


Frayed

by Skullszeyes



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Annoyance, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Constant Dying, Dark, Dealing With One Another, Depression, Fighting With One Another, Fluff, Friendship, Frustration, Gun Violence, Living Inside A Game, M/M, Not exactly a romance story, Out of Character, Please Don't Hate Me, Psychological Trauma, Science Fiction, Sentience, Slow Burn, Strained Friendships, Suicide Attempt, Temporary Character Death, Trapped, Virtual Reality, Virus, my bad - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-06 19:08:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 29,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11607093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Vanossgaming was one of the major gamers that got early access to GTA 5: Virtual Reality, including several of his friends. They spent a week on it, addicted to the intense game play and immersive feature. It wasn’t until a hacker modified a virus and it entered the system, attacking specific sessions. One of the sessions that the virus attacked was a private session among friends.They learned about the unfortunate effects when Vanoss is shot.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I had this idea whenever I watched Vanoss or the others play, and whenever they got shot or died, and usually this happens to any other gamer (including myself), we'd respond with 'Ow' or something similar. As if we were really hit, but it's just a reflex I'm pretty sure.  
> I wasn't really sure of writing this, I previously deleted a story on Vanoss and his friends going on a binge, but I decided not to continue that story because I, myself, was uncomfortable by it, even though drunk!me was the one who deleted it. :/ Anyway, I thought maybe this idea wasn't as creative, or interesting, but since I wrote most of the first chapter and had no other ideas or motivation for anything else, I decided to upload this. :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I'll be referring them randomly to their code names in the game, and their actual names.
> 
> I hope you enjoy. :)

He stumbled back, inhaling, a pain creased his brows as warmth and coldness mingled as he looked down. His red jacket was soaked in blood and when he looked up, Lui, one of his friends who was on a building with a sniper rifle pointed directly at him.

“Something is wro—” he didn’t get to finish when the bullet sunk in his forehead and the pain cut into his body, his vision went grey as his lifeless body hit the ground before everything faded to black. 

It was like waking up after a night terror. The loud noise spiking an adrenaline through his veins, in his ears. He opened his eyes, jolting, gasping before falling to his knees. The pain was completely gone, but he recalled it. He hadn’t felt something like that before, getting shot in a video game shouldn’t be having a strong effect like it did. As if he truly did get shot.

Vanoss pressed his hand against his stomach where the wound was, the blood seeping through his jacket. Except there was no blood, no wound, no pain. Only the memory of it.

He stayed on the ground, shaking, questioning before he looked up toward Lui who was on the street, running toward him with his mask covering his real face. There was something wrong, he wasn’t sure what it was as Lui dropped his gun and began pulling at his mask. 

What Lui didn’t know was that Daithi was behind him in a sleek grey car, making his way toward him. It was too late for Vanoss to do anything as he raised his arm to Lui who had thrown his mask to the ground, his body twisting when he realized what was about to happen.

“Lui!” Vanoss watched as the car made contact with Lui’s body, a sickening wet sound disturbed the silence around them as Lui was thrown in the air, a scream cutting off when he hit the ground. Blood marked the concrete with each roll before he came to a stop.

Shock rippled through Vanoss’s body, for a moment he waited for a sign that Lui might be dead. Except he could see his icon above him, it was blinking red. He was still alive, meaning he could still feel the affect of getting hit by a car at full speed and tumbling across the street. 

Nogla stepped out of the car, his brows furrowed in confusion, realizing what happened and noting the strangeness. There was always Lui’s cheeky laugh, the one that sounded a bit too innocent and mischievous. Either someone was about to get killed by him, or he was amused entirely by whatever situation they were in. In the space between himself, Nogla and Lui’s still body, there was nothing as Vanoss finally moved, running across the street, avoiding the blood.

Whatever Lui had felt before getting hit by the car, Vanoss felt it too. His mask was constricting around his face by the heat in the game. Something that shouldn’t happen, at least to the players. He tore it off but didn’t let go of it as he slid on the ground, his knees scraped, fabric tearing, and there was a slight pain but he ignored it as he rolled Lui on his back.

He was breathing, and unconscious. Blood soaked his sides, shoulders, and legs. He would bleed out on the concrete, and Vanoss wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. This was never meant to happen. 

Why was it happening?

He spawned when Lui killed him, so maybe Lui would spawn too. The pain would be deafening for him, like it was for Vanoss in that moment. Recalling the pain was like a painful memory. It hurt too much, and it was difficult to rid itself from his mind.

“Is he...okay?” 

Vanoss looked over his shoulder to see Nogla, he was holding Lui’s mask in his hands, walking toward him, confusion still splayed across his face. What he did sunk in and it wasn’t doing them any favors. 

Vanoss tilted his head up a bit. For a virtual reality without the use of controllers or a mouse. It was strange to bring up the menu. He brought up his arm and spread his fingers. It was easier, more flexible.

The gun display appeared before him and he reached for a handgun. It was heavy as he pulled it from thin air, materializing, the weight was strange and when Nogla noticed. He tensed, figuring out what was about to happen next.

“He’ll come back,” Vanoss said, mostly to himself. He pointed the gun toward Lui’s head, his bar was returning but he wasn’t sure what Lui would be feeling when he woke. The strain of this so called temporary death was unlike anything Vanoss felt, it was redefined and purposeful, yet also unnecessary. They’d have to leave the game once Lui spawned. This wasn’t something they should be playing if the game allowed them to feel everything.

“Vanoss!” A scream startled him and he looked to his right, and unfortunately spotted Delirious on a bike making his way toward them. He was wearing his mask, and heavy tactical clothes on, he was also armed with a shotgun. 

“Fucking Del—” Nogla said as Delirious pulled the trigger and the spray hit the three of them. The bullet managed to get the rest of Lui’s health down, while Vanoss was thrown back, Nogla writhed on the ground not too far from him. Bullets pelted in their chests and the pain was more excruciating than the last time Vanoss was shot. 

“Delirious,” Vanoss heard Scotty yelling, “stop, don’t kill them.”

It was too late, Delirious’s laughter surrounded them and another shot killed himself and Nogla in a horrendous spray. They didn’t even cry out when death pulled them under that grey screen, his surroundings fading once more.

When he came too, he fell to his knees again. Gasping, nausea dragged itself in his throat, and when he threw up, the sound of a gun going off startled him. He looked up and noticed Delirious on the ground near his fallen bike. Blood soaked the dark fabric and he seemed to be choking inside his mask, body stuttering, legs kicking out.

Lui was standing next to Nogla several feet away, holding a sniper rifle. He wasn’t wearing his mask, but his features were twisted in a glare. He stumbled backwards and Nogla caught him before he could fall, they exchanged words between each other before looking back at Delirious. Scotty and Basically were on the other end of the road, standing beside a car. They were silent, and from what Scotty had said before, he knew what happened and maybe they knew first hand what it meant.

Vanoss noted no one was going to deal with Delirious and he didn’t want him to suffer for long as he brought his gun out, pointed it at Delirious’s head. The words tumbled through his mind, begging like he did for Lui that Delirious would respawn not too far away from them. The decision, the heavy gun, the unexpected feeling of death cooling itself on his skin, he was all aware of it coursing through him before he pulled the trigger.

The gun was loud, and when Delirious’s body went still on the pavement, Vanoss threw up again.


	2. fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ones who died are now dealing with the repercussions, and are unsure of what to do and wondering who else is in the game with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (8.30.17) - I've been going through some anxiety and depression issues, also I've been working on something else. I apologize for anyone waiting for an update, I'll try my best.
> 
> I hope you understand and that you enjoy this fic and chapter. :D

Purple and blue bled into the orange and yellow of the sunset, bringing in the cool wind that smelled of the sea against Vanoss’s skin. His eyes burned from throwing up, fingers still shaking, he was sitting on the ledge on top of a car park, listening to his friends bicker behind him.

Delirious sat beside him, his mask abandoned on the street below where Nogla and Scotty’s cars were parked. Including his vest that he said was heavy after Lui shot him, he had a hard time dealing with dying like Vanoss, Lui and Nogla. It was harsh, coughing up nothing and not being able to stand for several minutes. He said it was like his body and mind fading, and he had to force it to stay in a place that was like a jagged edge. Trying his hardest to heal an invisible wound.

“I need a drink…” Delirious muttered.

Vanoss nodded slowly. He needed one since this entire thing began, it’s been almost two hours and they couldn’t log out, now they were dealing with the side effects of dying and the realism of their situation.

“What the fuck do you think happened?” Wildcat yelled. He, Mini, Terroriser arrived thirty minutes ago after Wildcat was shot in the leg and hit by a car, he died on impact. Mini had noticed the strangeness that happened and raced after him, but when his body disappeared and reappeared a block away, Wildcat couldn’t walk for twenty minutes, even now Mini had to stand beside him in case he fell over. Moo found Terroriser after he fell off a roof, he was in a similar position as Vanoss when he first died. Shaking and throwing up, now he was lying on the cement several feet away with Moo comforting him.

“I don’t know,” Nogla yelled back, his face twisted in a scowl before turning away from him, hands running through his hair. They were trying to figure out what was going on, how it started and why, but they were getting nowhere.

Lui stood to the side, arms crossed. “Fighting won’t help.”

“Should’ve said that twenty minutes ago,” Scotty said, arms also crossed, Basically stood beside him, moving back and forth on his heels.

Wildcat clenched his teeth, looking at them. “When did you notice?”

Basically frowned, his fingers dug in his shoulders, and his eyes were red when he said, “We got hit by the train.”

Silence filled the air and as death awakened around them, the feeling crawled on their skin. The ruin of the aftereffect haunted their minds, tearing emotion away as the group separated. No longer wanting to talk, to speak in incoherent yelling until their voices hurt, nor the shakiness in their hands and legs, words failing them altogether as their bodies crumpled.

Vanoss swallowed, pressing his tongue against the top of his mouth, trying to gain feeling besides the tremor at his fingertips. His heart was still racing, and when he breathed, it felt more like he was gasping for air after being pulled underwater for too long. The tension in his body was taut, rigid and uncomfortable.

Delirious’s touch made him breath in deeply, slowly exhaling. His body closing in, mind scraped raw by the bullet searing in his forehead, and the bullets pelting his chest, hot air and blood choking him, dragging him under before being spit out, unwanted.

“Are you alright?” An empty question, piled by reassurances that rung like a bell in his ears.

Vanoss’s mouth went dry as he shook his head back and forth. Words were stuck somewhere in his mind where the memories deconstructed every second of every split pain that pierced his skin, savagely tearing him apart.

He could barely believe he was sitting up on a ledge, legs dangling over nothing but the ground below the three story building. Fear and those memories should’ve made him run, scream and claw his way out, but he couldn’t. His body wouldn’t move, it wouldn’t register the fear nor his surroundings.

Not until he heard screaming.

Delirious moved like a doll, entire body twisting to the side, hand holding Vanoss’s arms, fingers squeezing his skin. “Terroriser,” he whispered, turning back, frowning.

Screaming, no words comforted that imprint that slammed into them like a burn. Moo was screaming next, telling the others not to get close, yelling for Scotty and Basically to get something cold. They were gone in the next five minutes while the others stayed still, like statues about to shatter as Moo tried to soothe Terroriser’s screams.

A warm tear rolled down Vanoss’s cheek, “Do you think it’ll hurt if I fall?” he asked, not sure if he was talking until Delirious slipped from the ledge and wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him back. They fell, the ground scraped his arm, but Delirious held him to his chest as Terroriser calmed down. The others were still standing, moving away, looking somewhere else, but their features were fractured.

“Stay with me,” Delirious whispered in his ear, holding him tight as they sat on the ground, Delirious’s back against the wall. “Stay with me.” His voice broke, and Vanoss wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do as he stared at Moo holding Terroriser in his arms.

Time was a weird thing, it moved too quick for them and the stars began to show above. Delirious’s arms loosened and Vanoss crawled off of him and laid down on the cold cement.

Delirious joined him.

“Why did this happen?” he asked, unsure of what else he was meant to talk about. The others yelled about it, but he whispered, paper thin, to Delirious who twined their fingers together.

“I don’t know.”

Like the others, their faces were painted and began to fracture under the weight, voices tinted with death that tastes like coal on their tongues.

Vanoss stared at the stars, at the sky, and closed his eyes and tried to gain back those little feelings he lost when he was killed. Translucent threads binding around his fingers, breakable but sustained.

He opened his eyes, “We have to find out why this is happening and why we can’t log out.”

“Maybe someone will figure it out,” Delirious muttered, his fingers loose between Vanoss’s.

He turned his head, looking at Delirious who stared at the sky. “This is just the beginning, and we have to find our end.”

Scotty and Basically came back, running up the slope, knowing Terroriser was too sensitive with the noise from the car. Even Lui had a hard time being close to one, he’d wring his fingers, trying to lose the edge of when he was hit.

Death was strange in this game. Before it felt like nothing but an inconvenience, a part of the game, an obstacle or challenge. Now that the feeling was amplified to the emotions of their bodies, coursing through nerve cells inside their brains. It became more, like a secret of the world that did not want them to learn, fraying the constructed lie when they cheated death over and over again.

He did not want to try out any extensive deaths they could endure. It could break them, tear them away from the realism once they escaped.

Basically gave Moo the cold packs and bottles of water. Moo smiled his thanks, whispering to Terroriser who had a difficult time trying to push himself up.

“Can you drink that?” Wildcat asked, voice lower than it was before, more scratched raw from yelling.

Scotty gave a lopsided grin at the beer in his hand. “Tried it already and apparently, it’s fast active.”

Vanoss and Delirious sat up. “You can seriously drink it?”

Basically nodded, holding his own. They both wore fragile expressions, but their faces twisted in mischievous smiles from the beers in their hands. “We brought more, if dying hasn’t craved your need for drowning.”

“Pass us some,” Vanoss said, taking Delirious's offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. The world turned on its side, but he held onto Delirious as the rest made a circle.

Moo and Terroriser stayed where they were, nursing away the harsh death. Terroriser grasped Moo’s hand, muttering to him as Moo placed a cold pack on his forehead. They were their own little space of quiet, while the rest waited for the beers once Basically and Scotty ran back to grab the case.

“Not to ruin our recent near death experiences,” Tyler said, looking down at his in-game phone.

“You’re the only one who’d ruin it,” Nogla grinned.

“Shut up. As I was saying, who hasn’t died yet?”

“I haven’t,” Moo said, waving his hand at them.

Mini, who was sitting crossed legged beside Wildcat, also raised his hand. "I haven't either." He gave Wildcat a pained expression, hand dropping in his lap before looking away. The memory of Wildcat's death must've been still fresh on his mind.

"It's going to suck when you both do," Vanoss said under his breath, furrowing his brows at the memory of the bullet in his forehead. He gritted his teeth to rid himself of the sharp pain. It should've been gone by now, but when he witnessed Lui and Nogla's death, later with Delirious, it settled like a fever. He didn't think it'd fade any time soon.

“I think,” Tyler said, “is that we should avoid getting killed since the death...is terrible.”

"No shit," Lui said, frowning. He wasn’t as riled as the rest of them, nor as fractured. There was something there when he spawned after getting killed by Delirious, a fierce hate that poured through him when he pulled the trigger before evaporating under his feet. It wasn’t Delirious’s fault that he had died the way he did. Lui wasn’t angry at Delirious, but it was the only emotion that pulled to the surface that he could register, and Delirious was there in front of him. Like a prime target for him to take his anger out on. He wasn’t angry at Daithi either, but the melancholy made him lose his footing, and Daithi was the one there to hold him up. A breath escaped him, shaky, a subtle difference from the anger that exhaled from his body.

Basically and Scotty arrived, catching the last of the conversation and passed each of them a beer from the case. Beer never tasted good, but it wasn't the taste that made them all drink it.

“No one else is in the game with us?” Scotty asked, looking to Bascally who shrugged.

“We won’t know.” Tyler’s shoulders slumped, exhaustion or defeat, “Whatever this is, we can’t talk to each other from across a map.”

“That’s how it was designed,” Vanoss said.

Before any of them could think of who else was in the game, an explosion erupted, shocking them all as they twisted around. Ringing slammed into Vanoss’s ears as the others rushed toward the ledge. Moo grasped Terroriser’s arms, his body thrashing, ragged gasps left his lips.

Vanoss raced toward the others, slipping between Mini and Nogla, and looked over the ledge at the street below them.

Two cars became burning husks, and another was on fire.

“Is that?...” Wildcat muttered, flames reflected in his eyes.

 _Horror._ That’s what it was, untamed and calculated horror cut through the group as Delirious was already rushing, followed by Basically and Scotty.

“They’re not going to make it,” Vanoss said.

Smoke choked the air at the sight of Cartoonz and Ohmwrecker burning in the car, their screams muffled by the screams of the npc’s and cars screeching on the asphalt. Vanoss covered his ears and closed his eyes the second the vehicle exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed. I had my niece pick out which story to update since I'm terrible at deciding and she wanted this one. :D Yay! This story will have its dark moments, if anyone enjoys that. Although, I don't usually write dark fics.  
> My writing styles do change sometimes, if there's any spelling errors or such, I apologize. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> Please leave a kudo or comment. It helps. :)


	3. cars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With nothing to do with death around them, they decide to wait it out.

He watched the firemen and ambulance leave, and all the cars that drove by that seem to calm the chaos in his beating heart. It raged with pain that sunk in deep, he couldn’t even cry or scream, but fall and crumple in himself.

“Jonathan.” Vanoss’s voice was far away, but he was right beside him since the ambulance arrived, a silent comfort.

He had to wait. That’s all he had to do. Seconds went by and the hot air blew against his face when he heard screaming.

He raised his head from his arms and looked down the street. _He_ was kneeling on the ground, head in his hands as the screams jerked Delirious to his feet. He didn’t hear Vanoss, nor anyone calling his name when he crossed the street, the sun slammed down on him, but he didn’t stop. Not until he wrapped his arms around Luke’s shoulders, gripping the back of his shirt and buried his face in his neck. No words escaped him, nothing could be said for death skewering one in the soul, over and over again.

He shuddered and broke, and when Delirious opened his eyes, he could see the others surrounding Ohmwrecker who was lying curled on the sidewalk. He was screaming, face shrouded by his hands.

It took time for the screams to wane, and when it did. Cartoonz lifted his head, panting and groaning, his eyes wet from tears.

“What the fuck…?”

He wasn’t burning. No scar left on his face besides a faint bruise, his clothes weren't torn away. He was here and he was alive. Delirious tried to smile something reassuring, but it only fell flat, he gripped Luke and pulled him against his chest.

“It’s over...you’re not dead, you’re not burning,” he said, softly in his shoulder.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

A game. Life or death. Was that what it was? A stupid game pulled taut against their skin like wire, one wrong move and it’ll split them open.

He knew Luke would respawn, but for a second he didn’t think of the game, but that if he was fast enough, he could spare his friend from death. He was too late, the explosion had crashed through his mind without stopping until he heard his own heart beat like an echo.

Fatal and cutting deep. It wasn’t like his own death, bullets sinking in his skin, in bone and choking on blood. His body stuttering as his mind began to fade before it went out like a light. It was shattering when he was brought back. Memory of it hurt, it was too real, too close.

Would they ever get used to it? Did they want too?

It took time to get Cartoonz to stand, but when he did, he limped all the way back to the carpark, managing several questions that Delirious was able to answer. He even tried logging out, but it wasn’t there.

Whatever hope Delirious had was diminishing by the second. Most of them experienced death, now what was going to happen. He was afraid of any other death that would follow. One wrong move and even the NPC’s would attack them, but as they sat on the grass and he watched them wander by.

He thought of the game they were in and the fun they had when death wasn’t a thing they could complain about. Except the game was designed for death, simply for the guns, explosions and hostiles that plagued every inch of Los Santos.

It was terrifying when they can now feel death.

“No one tried..to find a way out?” Cartoonz asked, legs pulled to his chest, and his head lowered against his knees. Exhaustion covered his face and the tension in his body wouldn’t let up.

“Lui tried,” Mini said, who was standing a foot to Delirious’s right, they were mostly surrounded by their friends, and Ohmwrecker was lying on his side behind them. Muttering words none of them could hear or figure out.

“I’m guessing most of you died… already,” he said, flitting his eyes at Delirious.

“I was shot by Lui and killed by Vanoss,” he said, shrugging as if it didn’t hurt to say, as if the death was still there on his mind. Vanoss was standing with Lui, Wildcat and Daithi, they were talking for some time without breaking eye contact with each other. To his surprise, none of them were screaming at each other like Wildcat and Daithi were doing earlier.

_Progress._

“What do we do now?” Cartoonz asked.

He’s been wondering this for some time now, and was unsure of how to answer it since Cartoonz and Ohmwrecker were killed. There were many ways to kill them, but if they were careful, maybe death could be avoided.

He shrugged, giving Cartoonz a lopsided grin. “We head back to our apartments and wait it out.”

“That’s your idea?” Moo asked, he was sitting on the grass with Terrorizer who looked better than he did thirty minutes ago.

“It’s not a bad,” he said, “we all won’t die from some random thing in this game if we go hole ourselves in our apartments until the people outside can get this fucking thing fixed.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Mini said, crossing his arms.

“What’s not a bad idea?” Vanoss asked, walking over to them with Wildcat, Daithi and Lui.

“Head back to our apartments and wait it out,” Delirious told him, trying to ease the exhaustion from his body, but it was more like he was covered in bruises that won't fade. His entire head thudded with an anxious headache, followed by his heart in his chest.

“Hey,” Daithi interjected, he walked beside Lui, “that’s what we just discussed.”

“Great minds think alike,” Delirious pointed to his head and at Vanoss, who shrugged.

“How are we getting to our apartments?” Moo asked.

They all looked between each other, before a car appeared down the street out of thin air. Wildcat grinned, grabbing Mini Ladd’s arm.

“See you guys later.”

Delirious bit his lower lip as the others began rummaging through their selections to get their car to appear. He looked down at Cartoonz who was now leaning towards him.

“You want to come over?”

Cartoonz snorted. “I don’t want to hang out alone.”

Delirious raised his head and opened his inventory, selected his car while the others began to appear around them.

“Will you be okay?” Vanoss asked, his yellow and black car was down the street past Moo’s.

Delirious nodded, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be, but they had time to think things through for now.

Daithi and Lui helped Moo with Terrorizer, while Delirious got to his feet and walked over to Ohmwrecker who was still lying on his side. “You want to come over?”

All he got was a nod.


	4. virus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lui thinks its a virus, and wants to find it with the help of Nogla and Vanoss.

The walls of his apartment was cream colored, matching his couches and the tiled floor. Vanoss stride to the wide window that overlooked the city. He pressed his fingers to the glass, the cold seeped against his skin and he shuddered. Lui and Daithi had followed him home, asking each other questions the entire drive to the apartment. He tuned them out for most of the ride and tried gaining some type of semblance of peace within himself in the time he was given.

“You think it’s a virus?” Daithi asked, plopping down on the couch.

Lui was across from him, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s the only thing I can think about that could work in a virtual reality game is that this is all because of a virus.”

Vanoss stared at the city, at the fog coming in from the ocean, and the lights glittering below him. He headed for the kitchen and turned the tap on, filling a cup with water.

“Would it be in the game?” Daithi asked, “In our server?”

“I can look around and see if there’s a type of glitch,” Lui said.

Vanoss returned to the living room and sat down with them. Drinking his water and trying not to let his anxiety consume him. He had to think small, if Lui was right about this all being a virus, than they should be able to do something from within the game. If not, they’ll have to wait until someone outside realizes that they’re stuck.

If only pulling off his helmet could help, but he synced in. They couldn’t pull it off manually unless they exited the game and in game time is different from the outside. He heard of the consequences of taking off the helmet, but this was different now that they experienced death more profoundly. He didn’t want to think of what would happen if the game shut down.

“We should look for it,” Daithi said, standing up from the couch.

Lui arched a brow. “We?”

“Yes _‘We’_ , you can’t look for it on your own. The three of us can split up while the others relax from their near death experience,” Daithi said.

Vanoss drank the rest of his water and set it down on the glass table. “The three of us are going to look for a virus in all of Los Santos? What if it’s small, we’re going to need the others.” _And what of your own near death experience?_ He wanted to add, but from the look of Daithi and Lui, they weren’t petrified, more contently numb, eyes glazed over and bodies relaxed.

Vanoss looked away, unsure if he wanted to analyze them and prod at the barriers they placed up. It was obvious they were trying their best to stay upright, like he was. They were close to awake and asleep as they could muster. He curled his fingers at his knees, and breathed in for three seconds before breathing out.

“We should look for it,” he said, words faltering under its own weight.

Lui nodded, looking to Daithi, “We can get the others who aren’t too confined in their trauma to help. The ones who are—Delirious, Cartoonz, Ohmwrecker and Terroriser—can stay in their apartments until we’re done.”

“They’re safer,” Daithi said, nodding.

Until they grow restless, something Vanoss didn’t want to think about. Even now, he was restless, and as Daithi paced the room, mumbling words he and Lui couldn’t hear. It wasn’t excitement that made him want to stand and leave the room, it was a desire that scared him, that wanted to find the virus and leave this world.

Death is too fickle, too sensitive. He’d have to be careful and expect the worst when he leaves his apartment.

“When do you want to do this?”

Lui laid down on the couch, stretching out before curling on his side. “After a nap. Dying on the side of the road wore me out”

Daithi sighed and headed for the kitchen. Vanoss, who stared down at his hands, rose from the couch and went upstairs. Everything was in its place, pristine and unmovable. He tried picking up a candle, but it wouldn’t budge. When he sat down on the bed and it wasn’t hard as he thought it was going to be, he laid down and stared at the ceiling.

He died. Not once, but twice in a span of ten minutes. He tried to hold onto that feeling that he was fine, but when he closed his eyes. It came back to him, the sound and the feeling ricocheting.

Vanoss rolled on his side and laid on the bed for almost an hour, maybe longer, but through that, he did not sleep. He heard the thumps of someone running up the stairs, and when the noise slowed and Nogla’s head popped in the room, Vanoss raised himself into a sitting position.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Lui wants to get going.”

“Right now?” Nogla nodded. With a sigh, he stood from the bed and followed Nogla out of the room and down the stairs to the living room. They found Lui in the kitchen, chugging a glass of water before placing it down on the counter.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Now?” Vanoss said, leaning against the wall. “Why?”

Lui shrugged, “Why not? Do you honestly want to stay in this game, dying over and over until we all go insane?”

No. That wasn’t what he wanted to do. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“Should we tell the others?” Nogla asked, following them to the front door.

Lui waved his phone at him. “I'll call them and tell them what we’re going to do.”

“Tell them to stay put,” Vanoss said, “we don’t want anyone wandering around and getting themselves killed.”

They stepped outside and headed for Vanoss’s car. It sat in the garage, and when they all slid inside, Nogla was speaking to Miniladd in the driver's seat as he took the passenger seat and Lui sat in the back.

“Wildcat and Mini wants to help.”

“Tell Wildcat not to do anything stupid,” Vanoss said.

“What?” Nogla asked, his voice shrill before he let out a laugh, “No. Tell me you’re not fucking serious.”

“What?” Lui asked, sitting forward in his seat. “What’s going on?”

Vanoss braced himself for whatever Nogla had to say.

“Delirious and Cartoonz are gone from the apartment,” Nogla said.

Vanoss closed his eyes and pressed his face in his hands. He breathed in three times before letting it out. “When?”

“Ten-fifteen minutes ago. Moo and Terroriser were at the apartment with them, they slipped by when they weren’t looking. Ohm’s still over there.” Nogla clicked his tongue, “Those bastards are going to get themselves killed.”

“Surprised Cartoonz can even walk,” Lui said, shaking his head.

Vanoss raised his head. “What do we do?”

“I’m sure Delirious and Cartoonz can take care of themselves,” Lui said, sitting back in his seat. “Try to phone them, Nogla, get them to look for the virus as well.”

Vanoss didn’t think it was a good idea, but it was the only one they had. They drove down the road, and when Lui suggested them to leave the city. He was perplexed but didn’t argue. He was worried about the others, but knew if anyone could take care of themselves, it was his friends.

They ascended into the hill, past the houses where it began to thin by the top. And before they could leave, Vanoss caught something in the rearview mirror. Something bright lit up in the city and he pressed on the brake.

“Nogla,” Lui said, scrambling around in his seat.

“I am, I am,” he muttered, taking out his phone as he twisted around.

An explosion went off across the city from them and as the smoke began to disperse, Vanoss couldn’t stop staring, wondering, and hoping nothing happened to his friends.

“No one’s answering.”


	5. fractured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and Cartoonz are in a gun fight with the cops, but things don't go their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my late update. I lost interest, my writing was suffering because of my mental disorder, and I was also writing a novel. :/  
> I'll try to update more. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

The explosion burned the air and all noise went out like a flame. When the wind seeped back against Delirious’s skin, he was on his feet, swaying toward Cartoonz who was knelt by the car they— _he_ —stole not mere fifteen minutes ago when they left the apartment, leaving Ohm with Moo and Terrorizer. He knew they would be fine without them, but they were also curious about the endeavors of this game, of how far they could take it.

At first it was his idea to leave and traverse the city, but Cartoonz was the one who grinned mischievously. They couldn’t stay still, not when the barriers of their limitations were cut off, but the limits of their confined being was theirs to do as they pleased.

He’d have to apologize some time, but this wasn’t the time to do so. He wasn’t a great driver in games and it was mostly on purpose or impatience got a hold of him. He didn’t bother being polite when he ran over the half a dozen NPC’s that walked along the sidewalks. Their bodies flung hard against the cement, blood cut in his vision, but he kept mowing them down until the sound of sirens in the distance distracted him.  

One car got in his way and they crashed, it was bad enough that Cartoonz had a rocket launcher and was blowing up the cars in front of them, it was his fault he managed to miss one.

“Your phone is going off,” Cartoonz yelled beyond the ringing in his ears. He pointed to his phone lying on the road.

Delirious covered one of his ears, his heart was pounding inside his chest, and all he could see were the NPC’s running for their lives. “I’ll go get it. Cover me.”

The cops were moving in quick, shouting things he could barely hear and when a bullet flew past him, he dove without thinking and grabbed his phone.

He answered it, moving back toward a car that wasn’t on fire while Cartoonz shot at the cops with his rifle. He listened for a voice, but heard nothing.

“Who is this?” he asked, looking at the caller ID. _Daithi De Nogla._ “I...can’t hear you..” He hoped this wasn’t permanent, something that didn’t go along with the game, but as the seconds ticked by, he started to hear Cartoonz from where he was, still yelling at him from across the road.

“Where are you?” Finally he could hear Daithi’s voice, screaming in his ear. “For fuck sakes, Delirious.”

“Sorry...explosions are fucking with my hearing,” Delirious said, looking over the hood of the car to see more cops approaching the area. There were several bodies lying on the ground, a pool of thick blood on the asphalt shone in the light of the day.

“What the fuck Delirious? We told you to stay at the house.” This was Vanoss, his voice crisp in his ear.

Delirious pulled out a gun from his menu, it was heavy in his hand and somehow fitting. “No, you didn’t, and we were bored. So here we are, in a gunfight with the cops.”

Vanoss made an exasperated sigh. “Lui thinks there’s a virus in the game that is preventing us from leaving...and making sure we feel every injury—”

Delirious looked over to Cartoonz who had the rocket launcher in his hand, the end balanced on his shoulder. He glanced over to Delirious, the same mischievous smile rose to his lips, and he gave Delirious the thumbs up.

Delirious rolled his eyes and waved his thumb at him.

“—we’re looking for it and since you and Cartoonz are out and about—”

Cartoonz blew up the cop cars and all the people around it. Delirious ducked, covering his ear again and felt the hot air blow against his face.

“—Are you even listening to me?” Vanoss asked.

“Yeah,” Delirious said, shaking his head and looking over to Cartoonz who had his rifle out again, gesturing for him to stand up. “Virus...how does it look?”

“Like something not in the game,” Lui’s voice entered his ear. “It could be anything, so watch out for something unusual.”

 _Unusual. That wasn't a lot help. It could be anything._ “I’ll...see if I can find something.” He hung up and met up with Cartoonz who was stealing a car from a NPC. The woman flared her arms, screaming for someone to help her as she ran for her life down the war torn street.

“Hurry up, I still have stars,” Cartoonz said, pointing at something above him before getting into the vehicle.

Delirious nodded and rounded the car, he opened the door and slid inside. He noted the coppery smell of blood, but he thought maybe it was the bodies that were piled on the road, but he soon noticed the blood on Cartoonz leg and arm.

“Holy shit, you’re shot,” Delirious said as Cartoonz drove back and turned the car around. He drove, fast down the street as much as the car could take.

“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt that much,” he said, his shoulders tense, face scrunched in pain.

“Yeah, sure, you should let me drive,” Delirious said, watching as Cartoonz made his way around all the cars that drove down the street, the screams of NPC’s and the sirens that followed.

“I’m not going to die...it’ll hurt for awhile and my health will go up,” Cartoonz said, squeezing his hands around the steering wheel. “Who called you?”

“Daithi, Vanoss and Lui, they said that there might be a virus in the game, that’s why we can’t get out, they want us to see if we can find something _unusual_ ,” Delirious said, running a hand through his short hair. He was still perplexed by what they were meant to look for, but he had no time to think about that.

Not when the gun he held was no comfort, and as he rolled down the window and the wind sliced at his face. He brought the gun up and fired until it became warm in his hand. It was strange, a game that became troubled by its core, losing its worth by its players, and introducing death as the new rule.

Delirious always felt thrill in his veins, coursing like the wind when he fell from the sky, it was like the aftermath of crying, the continuous amount of self reflection, or the sounds of a gun and the heart panicking fear that you’ll be next.

This was different, this was thrill and fear mixing together, twining in hand holding motion as one draws close to the edge.

He had death in his hands a few hours ago, it was close like an embrace, and he was afraid of that feeling in his throat as blood pooled, and he tried to breathe and he tried to scramble for air, but there was nothing. Nothing but himself and the wilting need of breath.

He was close again, he could feel it in his hands as he fired off bullets, hitting the windshield and barely denting the cars behind him. There were too many and one tear drew out from his eye and streaked down his face, along with the smile that he wore, the maniacal laughter leaving his lips at how unfortunate they were.

Glass shattered and the sound of the horn going off. Delirious heart picked up and he dove back into the car, panic made him push Cartoonz’s dead body from the wheel, but everything was too fast, and his blood smeared on his sweater, warm and wet, the car hit the wall and he slammed into the dashboard.

Seconds ticked by and his heart pooled with tears, pain crawled its way up his body. The sounds were far away, he didn’t hear the cops getting closer, still firing their bullets, the smell of gasoline was close.

He closed his eyes, ready to slip back into deaths awaiting embrace, but the door was wrenched open and someone grabbed the back of his collar. Yanking him from the car and dropping him on the ground.

He managed to open his eyes to see the cop above him, all the bright lights staring at the broken car and his dead friend, and when the bullet slashed into his body, he sunk in that fractured darkness.


	6. deteriorating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss is trying to cope with what is going on with himself and his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been playing gta5, trying to gain some motivation to write this, I'm still dealing with outside issues. So if I don't update, know that I'm trying. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Vanoss pushed open the door and threw up on the side of the road. It came out ragged, dry coughs at first, but Daithi noticed and slowed the car down. It was enough time for Vanoss to lean over. The grotesque taste of alcohol and something else on his tongue made his throat burn, and the slosh on the pavement made the rest slip out, he spit the remaining that clung to his lips.

“Can you get a hold of yourself,” Daithi said, hands on the wheel, brows pinched at Vanoss who pushed against the door and hauled himself up.

“They're dead.”

“Yeah,” Lui said from the back seat, “It’s their own fault.”

Two icons above said who died in the game and it only reminded Vanoss when he first died. The feeling of it, the sickness of when he spawned, the shakiness that he now felt made the world spin.

He was lost amid that darkness, cold and ruptured, he squeezed his hands into fists to try and gain some semblance of control. But he couldn’t deny that he was afraid, and that fear motivated him to find the virus.

“How would it look?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Lui who was looking out the window once Daithi began driving again, “the virus.”

Lui leaned forward, his brows knit together in concentration, “I’m thinking it would look like a glitch. It could be big or small, depends really.”

“Glitches are all over this game,” Daithi said.

“That’s why I’m saying that it could be hidden away somewhere in the game, or it could simply look like a glitch.”

That still didn’t help them. The game was stretched out with all its complicated nooks, and they had to be careful in case the NPC’s don’t kill them. Like Delirious and Cartoonz, they made the mistake of killing too many, now they were dealing with the aftermath of their choices.

“I think,” Lui said, “we should go to the mountains, some place up high.”

“Why?” Daithi asked.

“Maybe we can see the glitch from a higher vantage point.”

“We can fly,” Vanoss suggested.

“I’ll get Wildcat and Miniladd to find a helicopter.” Lui sat back and took out his phone.

Daithi sneaked a glance at Vanoss, and there was pain on his face, a reminder of what happened at the airport. Lui didn’t show that it fully affected them like the rest, he could barely walk when he spawned back after being killed by Delirious. There was some unexpected resentment and Vanoss didn’t blame him. He didn’t seem willing to go near the airport either, a fear that hindered him.

Some things never went away, and this mental pain changed it all.

Daithi kept driving through the narrow roads, up the hill, past NPC’s, almost crashing into one. The drive was slow and quiet, but Vanoss could feel the shift in the daytime, the sun rose higher in the sky, making the car suffocating.

Once Daithi got to the top and made his way across toward the sign that said VINEWOOD, he ignored the NPC’s crawling their way up the hill until they were parked near a broadcast tower.

Lui got out and headed down the hill as he spoke on the phone.

“Is he alright?” Vanoss asked Daithi once they were alone.

“Not sure,” Daithi said, crossing his arms and glancing at look at Vanoss, “what about you?”

“I’m fine,” Vanoss said, shrugging.

“Sure. What was all that back there, throwing up on the side of the road like someone who can’t hold their liquor.”

He didn’t want to think too much about it, but the taste was still in his mouth and he spit to emphasize it. Daithi smiled at the corner of his lips and he made his way toward Lui.

Vanoss took out his own phone and tried Delirious’s number, it rang and when he hung up, he called again. This time he managed to get an answer, but all there was were panting harsh breaths, a ragged groan on the other end, and a line of creative swears that made him smile.

“You’re alive.”

“I don’t know...if I am.” Delirious sounded far away, his voice deep. “Call later.”

He hung up and Vanoss tucked the phone in his pocket. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to imagine how Delirious died again, but if it made Delirious of all people in their group of friends sound wounded, than it must’ve been something horrific.

Lui and Daithi were making their way over to them. Lui nodding to something Daithi said, a smile on his lips that was only shared between them. When they looked back to Vanoss, he noted the feral intensity in Lui’s eyes, sculpted along his face and the way his hands were tucked inside his pockets of his red sweater.

“I’m guessing something happened.”

“Not yet,” Lui said.

They headed for the car and got in. Lui told Vanoss that they looked around from the vantage point but saw nothing out of the ordinary, now they were going to head out of the city while the others made their rounds. Wildcat and Mini would be in the sky, while Delirious and Cartoonz stayed on the ground inside the city.

“Won’t we need more people?” Vanoss asked, an unknown fear knotted itself in Vanoss’s stomach as they drove out of the city and onto the highway. There was a sensitivity in the game, compiling together a rhythm of intricacies. This could take more time than they thought, and it’s been several hours now, no one came to save them and possibly no one would.

“I think...I need to throw up,” Vanoss said, but as Daithi slowed the car down and Vanoss got out, leaned over a foot from the car, hands on his knees, he gagged but nothing came out.

“Would you hurry up,” Daithi called from the car.

“He’s not even throwing up,” Lui said.

It was raw, that simple truth of being somewhere close to something that could kill oneself, like an open wound and some idiot pouring salt on it until one screams. He wouldn’t deny that there was a thrill of being left in a game, but that thrill also got overshadowed by his fear of being trapped inside. He knew it was deteriorating his sense of self, but he couldn't help fall into it, grasping the edges and letting the reality stream past him.

“What if we never get out?” he asked, mostly to himself, but he didn’t notice Lui standing beside him.

“We will,” he said, hand on his shoulder, “we just have to keep looking for the virus.”

Virus. Glitch. Someone had put it in and trapped gamers inside it, what would it look like, what would it do.

He stood, straightening and tilting his head back to look at the sun. It burned white in his vision and he blinked, closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh before resigning back into the car with Lui and Daithi.

They continued to drive, stretching out the road, the wind was nice against his skin, he relaxed and knew he had too. This was their hunt for a virus that might look like a glitch, but he wasn’t too sure about it.


	7. fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and Cartoonz looks for the glitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in some time, my bad.  
> I had this idea that they could fix the glitches in the game, usually by stopping it from happening over and over again. So hopefully that isn't too difficult to understand. :) 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.
> 
> (X Ambassadors - Renegades.) Song I was listening to while writing this.

The sun seemed too bright as Delirious limped toward Cartoonz who was pressed against a light post. His heart was heavy with what happened to him, and his forehead still ached from the bullet sinking into his skin. He panted, and even though his body was not harmed currently, he could still feel the phantom pain.

He wasn’t sure if he’d get used to it any time soon.

“Cartoonz,” he called, almost falling over when he stepped onto the sidewalk. “Are you alright?”

Cartoonz shook his head, his face twisted in pain. “I’m fine. I think.” He was visibly shaking, but he managed to raise his head and attempt a reassuring smile.

Delirious could see through what Cartoonz was trying to hide, but they couldn’t get into their own feelings at the moment. He reached for Cartoonz’ wrist and pulled him to his feet, they leaned against each for leverage.

The street was oddly quiet, and the heat was relentless. Delirious could feel the sweat sticking to his skin and sliding down the side of his forehead. He could even smell it on Cartoonz, a strong disgusting smell that didn’t help with the pain he was feeling.

“When do you think—”

“We’re not going to get used to dying,” Delirious said, cutting him off. The remains of his last death came to mind like a bad memory, it left a taste of metal and ashes on his tongue. “Let’s focus on getting out of here.”

They hobbled down the street. Delirious wiped at his damp forehead, squinting at the clear blue sky with no clouds in sight.

“What a day to die,” he commented wryly.

“At least we know,” Cartoonz said, stopping, he ran his hand through his hair, “that whatever is going on is still trapping us here.”

“What could do this?” Delirious asked, looking off down the street where he spotted more NPC’s appearing, some of them talking on their phones, or turning away from him and Cartoonz.

“The helmets, I’m sure the virus came from that,” Cartoonz said, “it’s connected to our brain.”

That was the thing that bothered him, is was just a helmet, it wasn’t entirely connected to their brain. It was more like a simple VR, upgraded for a full immersion, but this was completely different. He tried to move his body outside, but he couldn’t. His body in the game was the only thing he could control and it seemed more real.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, ignoring the phantom pain in his legs and headed down the street, Cartoonz followed after.

“Where are we going?”

Delirious looked both ways, there weren’t any cars, but he knew the NPC’s didn’t really stop for people when they drove. They didn’t really care, it’s GTA5, why should they have any decency.

“The one game we had to be stuck in.” Delirious shook his head.

“At least it’s not COD, we’d be dead more times than we can count,” Cartoonz said, but Delirious could hear the joke in his tone, and managed a smile for his best friend.

“At least it’s not COD,” Delirious agreed.

The pain began to ebb away, but they limped nonetheless. They walked a few blocks, looking around, trying to find something that was off. Cartoonz didn’t bother being nice to the NPC’s, shoving one over when the man wouldn’t give him his cup of coffee. The man yelled and booked it down the sidewalk, glancing back every few seconds before disappearing around a corner.

“How about not try to get us killed by more NPC’s,” Delirious said, watching Cartoonz tip his head back to drink the coffee, but then he threw the cup and spat out the coffee on the sidewalk. A woman gave him a disgusting expression as she moved around them.

“Disgusting,” Cartoonz said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“It’s coffee, and it’s hot, how about pick a drink that isn’t going to give you a heat stroke.”

“Why the fuck are they drinking coffee?” Cartoonz asked, jogging across to a woman holding a cappuccino in her hand, she was decked out in a floral dress that went an inch above her knees, flats and her brown hair was tied up. She noticed Cartoonz and stopped completely, her expression turned shocked as Cartoonz ripped the drink from her hand. She went running right after, screaming for help.

Delirious watched her get hit by a car and run over. He couldn’t will himself to laugh, it was too hot, and he had no idea what the fuck they were looking for.

Cartoonz chugged most of the drink and passed Delirious the cup with the ice. They sauntered down the sidewalk, Delirious idly sucking and biting on ice, while Cartoonz wiped the sweat from his face.

“Call someone,” Cartoonz said, “ask them what the fuck are we looking for.”

Delirious nodded, biting down on an ice cube and taking out his phone. He dialed Lui’s number and placed it to his ear. Then he noticed it, into the sky, far from where they were, but it was so noticeable that he had hung up and nudged Cartoonz.

“I think that’s what we’re looking for.”

“No,” Cartoonz agonized, covering his face with his hands, “that isn’t even fair.”

Nothing was fair in this game, and it made Delirious sick. He took up another ice cube and plopped it into his mouth.

A plane was hovering in the sky, and that was all it was doing. Nothing else. A blob in the sky that no one seemed to notice, but them.

“How the fuck are we getting that out of the sky?” Cartoonz asked, a deep sigh leaving his lips, shoulders slumping in utter defeat.

“I don’t know,” Delirious said, chewing on the last ice cube, he dropped the cup on the ground, eyes stayed fixated on the plane, “but we have to get it down so we can stop feeling death.”

Delirious and Cartoonz checked their empty wounds for any pain, a slight throb, but they were able to run. And so they did, down the street, past NPC’s, and dodging the cars that wouldn’t stop. They kept going until they made their way to the airport.

Delirious had his phone out and was texting Vanoss, telling them they found a glitch. He still felt the ache from when he killed his friends without realizing the repercussions, and when he was killed himself, choking on his own blood. A suffocation he never thought he would feel, a night terror tearing itself from his body, his heart wanting to be ripped from his chest to escape the panic and fear that coursed through his mind.

Whatever blood was there when they died was no longer on the asphalt. The fragility of their fate, the brittle in their bones that marked them as easy targets. They were sensitive to pain and to death in this world, and they had to be careful if they didn’t want to suffer under its purpose.

They stood in front of the gate where they’d have to steal a plane or a helicopter to get into the sky. Delirious was already afraid of what would happen if they failed, and more so if they succeeded. He knew that the pain would lessen once they fixed the glitch.

He buried his fears for now, and swallowed the trembling panic. He looked at Cartoonz, and he nodded. They knew their fate, and they knew they’d have to do this. He hoped Lui, Vanoss, and Nogla managed to fix their own glitch by the time their done.

“Ready?” Cartoonz asked.

Delirious took out a gun from the inventory wheel, he felt the weight in his hand, securing his hope and fears that would get him through this, a smile quirked at the side of his lips.

“Not really.”


	8. inevitable

Vanoss noticed it a little too late. The car slammed into the one they were driving in, and he had hit the side of his head against the glass, while Lui, who was in the back seat, was thrown to the side since he had no seat belt on. Nogla almost veered off the road before righting themselves.

“What the fuck?” he said.

Vanoss groaned, rubbing his head. “What’s going on?”

“Nogla, drive faster,” Lui said, but the car slammed into them again and when Lui tried to sit up, he slid against the door.

Nogla gripped the steering wheel and pushed down on the accelerator.

Vanoss looked across from them to see NPC’s in the truck. There were more behind them, and for some reason they were driving into them. Another had slammed against the back of the vehicle, and Vanoss gripped the arm wrist while Lui yelped and fell off the seat.

“What the fuck is going on?” Nogla yelled.

“That’s a good question,” Vanoss muttered, taking a gun from his weapon wheel and crawling into the back with Lui, but before he could turn the window down and shoot, the NPC had their arm sticking out with an automatic gun in their hand.

“Shit,” Vanoss yelled, grabbing Lui and they both ducked once the NPC started shooting. The glass shattered and Nogla almost drove them off the road.

“Holy shit, do something you fuckers,” Nogla yelled at Vanoss and Lui.

Vanoss gritted his teeth, he kept low, but he stuck his hand out the window, his sleeve riding up as a glass shard nicked his skin and he almost pulled it back, but Lui was there and he had put pressure on Vanoss’s side.

“Shit,” he muttered, a long jagged line went straight down his wrist. Blood bubbled to the surface.

“Sorry,” Lui said, he had his own gun out and was shooting at the NPC’s.

The burn of the cut made him shaky, but he tried to will it away as he raised his arm. The pain accelerated at the weight. He gripped the handle and fired. 

The bullets pinged off the front of the vehicle, and Lui managed to shoot one in the forehead.

“Why the fuck are they attacking us?” Nogla yelled.

“Must be the glitch in this area,” Lui said, “they’re not listening to their basic commands.”

Vanoss shuddered at the implication. How would they be able to stop the glitch if it was something like this?

“So what are we supposed to do?” he asked Lui.

Lui panted, he ducked and was reloading his gun. “We kill them all and hope the glitch stops.”

There were more vehicles approaching them from the front and Nogla had to move to the right, which slammed into the truck beside them. 

“Shit,” Nogla yelled as the vehicle slammed into the one in front of them.

Vanoss turned his gun to the front window and fired, the bullet cut through glass and into the vehicle before them. He managed to shoot out the driver, but the passenger had shoved the body out of the vehicle and took the driver seat.

“For fuck sakes,” Lui said under his breath, firing at the ones behind them. He managed to kill two NPC’s, and their car went to the side and drove into a ditch.

“Nogla, stay focused,” Lui said, reloading his gun again.

“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked, aggravated, “hurry and shoot these assholes before I get shot.”

Vanoss pointed his gun and fired at the vehicle before them. He took out the driver and the truck slowed enough for Nogla to squeeze to their left as two other cars were driving toward them.

More bullets pelted the car, and then he heard something, a soft grunt from Nogla before realization came to him. 

“Lui, Lui,” Vanoss said, reaching for the steering wheel where blood coated the front windshield, his hands sticky with it as Nogla’s body was slumped to the side. The NPC managed to kill Nogla in the forehead, a few more bullets had hit him in the chest.

“Vanoss!” 

And then the truck behind them moved to the left and slammed into them hard enough to veer them to the right. Lui fell backwards, and Vanoss looked back to see the door was wide open and his heart jolted.

“Fuck.”

As the vehicle swerved, he caught sight of a tree in their path, and he moved back right away and slipped behind the seat the second the vehicle hit the tree. The impact was brutal, he was slammed hard into the back of the seat and fell to the floor of the vehicle. His face and chest hurt, and it was hard to breathe.

His vision was going in and out, but he could see Lui’s name at the side of him fade, and finally he blacked out.

When he came too, he could smell smoke. He sucked in a harsh breath, his chest hurt from the impact, he could feel something warm on the side of his head. He coughed, and pushed himself up. 

He could vaguely hear yelling from outside of the car, but he couldn’t understand why. He looked up and noticed the tuff of dark hair, blood splattered on the front windshield. Realization hit him hard and he scrambled from the car, the door was already open and he fell out and onto the grass.

He let out a shaky breath, the world spun, and he squeezed his eyes shut, his hand coming to the side of his head. “Fuck...fuck…”

He rolled onto his side and opened his eyes. His vision was slightly blurry, but he could see a jeep several feet from him and someone was exiting it. There was more yelling, but the ringing in his ears wouldn’t let him understand what they were saying.

Two men were walking toward him and they were holding guns. He didn’t know what to do, there was no point in begging for his life, he would simply respawn. Except he was too disgusted by death that he didn’t want to consider dying any time soon.

His heart was racing so quickly that he was sure he was hyperventilating. They raised their guns, and their faces were twisted into rage. Before he could experience the horrific side effect of this game, a whistle cut into the noise and blood sprayed out from the first man’s head, his gun falling from his hand, and his body was limp as it fell to the ground. The second man turned around, panicking, but he was shot next.

“Vanoss,” Nogla was yelling, and he could vaguely see him from where he was lying.

He gritted his teeth, pain was still throbbing in his chest and the side of his face, his legs were shaking and he wasn’t sure if he could stand. He almost laughed at how pathetic he was, but he tried pushing himself up once Nogla came jogging toward him.

“Hey, hey, are you alright?” Nogla asked, reaching for Vanoss and helping him to his feet.

“I’m fine,” Vanoss said, unsure if he was. “Where’s Lui?”

“He’s coming,” Nogla said.

Vanoss noticed he was shaking and wouldn’t let go of him, but he stumbled backwards and threw up into the grass.

Vanoss clenched his teeth, the sound and smell almost made him want to throw up too.

“Holy shit...I can’t believe dying sucks,” Nogla said, spitting out the rest.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Vanoss said, noticing Lui was running toward him with a sniper rifle in his hands.

Vanoss focused on breathing while Nogla was knelt over, managing to throw up a bit more. He was shaking so badly from almost dying, and he couldn’t believe how much he didn’t want too. The effect was too much for him to handle.

Lui ran past the jeep and didn’t seem to care about the two dead bodies he took out minutes before.

“Are you alright?”

Vanoss gave him a weak smile. “I should be asking you that.”

Lui glanced away from him for a split moment, the gun in his hand disappearing, his hand came to the back of his head. “I can still feel it...when I hit the ground...the truck ran me over.”

Vanoss nodded slowly. “I’m sorry.”

Lui shook his head. “It’s not your fault, it’s mine, I grabbed the door handle and managed to open it and fall out.”

Nogla came walking over to them with a disgusted expression on his face, he wiped at his mouth. “Is this glitch done with?”

Lui looked around. “We managed to take out the other vehicles and no one is coming after us. So it must be finished.”

“How will we know?” Vanoss asked, feeling sick at the thought that someone will have to test it out.

Before Lui could answer, Vanoss’s phone went off.

Frowning, he didn’t think it would still work, but he noticed the caller ID. “It’s Delirious,” he said to Nogla and Lui, sniffling, he placed the phone to his ear, “hey, where are—”

“I might die, Vanoss.”

“What? Where are you?”

“I’m in a jet...went through a lot of people to get this damn thing. Cartoonz is flying his own, I’m not really sure if he’ll make it since he got—”

“Why are you in a jet?”

“We found a glitch, or whatever, it’s in the sky, a plane...you can probably see it from wherever you are.”

Vanoss looked, but he couldn’t see anything with the trees in the way. “Okay?”

“We might need some assistance...so can you come back to the city and meet us at the airport, or the beach, that’s probably where we’ll end up.”

Vanoss frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re going to die doing this...you know since it’s in the sky over the ocean...and it’s a weird glitch…”

Vanoss tried to calm his breathing, but his hands were still shaking. “Delirious, we managed to take out a glitch, so if you do die, it won’t be as painful.”

Delirious laughed dryly. “That’s good to know. Anyway, please come back to the city…”

“Okay, we’re on our way.”

“See you then.”

Vanoss hung up and looked at Lui and Nogla. Both of them looked sick and sore, they were shaking from the trauma of dying.

“We have to get back to the city, Delirious found another glitch.”

Lui furrowed his brows. “Where?”

“It’s in the sky over the ocean. He’s with Cartoonz and they might die, so he wants us to be there when they do, in case they need help.”

Nogla nodded slowly. “Okay, but this time, I’m not driving.”


	9. consequence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and Cartoonz risked their lives to rid them of a glitch in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I haven't updated any of my stories. My sister's cat died ten-11 days ago, and we had him for so long that it was a shock. I couldn't really do anything since he died, I couldn't write much, I tried, but I couldn't get into it.   
> I want to continue writing, because I feel like I can't do it anymore. I feel like it's not something I want to do, and maybe it's the grief that I'm going through that's making me think so negatively.  
> I just hope I can get back into it.   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a bit...depressing.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative. (They really are, I usually don't want to write if I don't have some recognition, I know it's a terrible thing, but it's work and usually a chapter is written in about an 1-3 hours, so I do enjoy that I have something people like and would like to know if you do enjoy my work.)

“Are you okay?” Delirious asked after he got off the phone with Vanoss. 

“Not really,” Cartoonz said into the comm. 

Delirious gritted his teeth, clenching his fingers around the handle. They were getting closer to the glitched out plane in the sky. It was higher than he anticipated, but it only made him nervous to know how far they were from the ocean below. It was a good thing he had his weapon wheel if something were to happen, dying from a long drop would be more painful than he’d be able to take, shooting himself was a better option.

He shuddered. Dying was a repercussion he did not enjoy, and it seemed to amplify it in this game. 

As he flew toward the plane, the wind made the jet rumble and he squeezed his fingers on the handles, trying to keep it steady. 

“How are we doing this?” Delirious asked.

“We eject,” Cartoonz said.

Delirious didn’t like the sound of that, but he knew there was no other way to do so, unless they rushed the plane itself. It could work, but he didn’t know if it would. The glitch was fragmented, the plane looked rigid, as if it wanted to move, but couldn’t, there was a sort of sheen around it that manipulated the sky.

As they drew closer, he pressed the eject button and in a second he was shoved from the jet and flew into the sky. Sucking in a breath that didn’t help with his racing heart, he noticed Cartoonz was close by, he was holding something in his hand and it was blinking.

“Throw a bomb at it,” Cartoonz yelled into his ear.

Delirious reached forward into the air as his speed began to slow, he reached for the weapon wheel and took out a bomb. It materialized in his hand, and as he began to fall, he tossed toward the plane. The parachute that held the seat he was sitting on was slowly holding him up. 

The bombs went off and the plane barely moved. 

“Shit,” Delirious said, grasping another bomb, “what if this doesn’t work.”

“Then we try again,” Cartoonz said, tossing another bomb.

He was gretting closer to the plane and as the next explosion went off, he could see debris falling from the plane, and the wind pushed him back. 

“Cartoonz,” Delirious muttered, brows pressed together, “I don’t know if this is going to work.”

“It has too,” he said, and his voice was breathy, and when Delirious looked at him, he could see his health gauge going down.

“You’re dying!”

“Shut up, Delirious, we have to do this.” Cartoonz pulled out another bomb and tossed it. This time it exploded parts of the plane, the harsh wind shoved them back, but debris went flying off of it. This time it had hit Cartoonz, a part of the plane stuck through his stomach and the rest of his health gauge was down.

“Shit,” Delirious said, but before he could do anything else. The rest of the plane blew up, the heat struck him and he went flying back as more debris flew from the plane. He could barely do anything when one of the parts hit the parachute that held him up and he went falling.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Delirious scrambled for the belt and unhooked himself, he pushed himself away from the chair as he fell and reached for a gun in his weapon wheel. He looked up at the falling debris, but what got him was the plane was no longer there, the glitch and the bright sheen was gone from the sky. “It’s done.”

He held the gun in his hand and placed the barrel to his head, he was shaking, and he knew what was going to happen had to happen. It was better than falling to his death, and before he could pull the trigger. 

Debris slashed his arm, knocking the gun from his hand. He scrambled, trying to reach for another weapon, but as he looked up, another debris hit him in the side of the head. The pressure made him gasp, his eyes darkened, and body tensed as he continued to fall.

_ I don’t want to die like this. Not like this.  _

He could barely catch his breath, it was coming out too quick. He squeezed his eyes and when he opened them, there was so much falling from the sky, a smoke of where the explosion happened was beginning to dissipate. 

He shuddered, a tear running down his cheek as pain stung his body. He could feel the blood on the side of his face, the skin had teared and the bone was punctured. It doesn’t matter. Soon he’ll die and wake up like it was all a nightmare, of course he’ll be waking up in the same nightmare, gasping for breath even though he has some in his lungs. The pain would stay, and he hoped Vanoss was right that it wouldn’t be as excruciating.

He closed his eyes and in a second he hit the water barrier and his mouth opened, but before he could gasp for breath nor consider the pain squeezing his entire body from hitting the water. His mind wouldn’t focus completely, only on the pain, only on the health gauge that was slowly dissipating.

He tried to move his arms but the water was dragging him down and he could see things falling in, dark objects sinking to the ground. He tried to reach the top, but it was too much, and his sight was blurry and he was panicking.

_ Not like this. Please. Not like this. _

Water was in his lungs, in his throat, his body tensed so badly that he couldn’t move and slowly he began to stop fighting it. He watched his gauge slowly inch closer to the end, and it was agonizing.

Then he died.

He saw the grey screen turning to black and then he was thrust back into life. He opened his eyes, standing on his shaky legs on the beach. There were so many people sitting on towels, some were talking to each other, others were walking along the shore. He stood alone, shaking, unsure of what he was supposed too do.

“Delirious!” 

The voice was loud, but he couldn’t look. He couldn’t even move his body. All he could feel was hitting the water and drowning in the ocean. The cold had seeped around his body, and the water sunk into his lungs, choking for air. He tried to move his leg, taking a step forward, his foot sinking into the sand and the heat of the sun made sweat glisten on his forehead.

“Delirious!” 

Someone else was yelling his name, but he couldn’t figure out who it was. He tried to walk again, but his entire body was weak, his mind traumatized as the action of what happened spun in his mind, over and over again. 

He sucked in a breath, but it hurt his chest. And then he screamed as hard as he could, falling to his knees, fingers finding the back of his head, nails digging into his scalp.

“Delirious.” Someone had fallen before him, grasping his arms. “Look at me, look at me, Delirious.”

He tried opening his eyes, and he wasn’t sure if he stopped screaming, his throat burned. He slowly tilted his head up, mouth fallen open as he stared into Vanoss’s eyes. Frantic and worried, Vanoss pulled him into an embrace that he didn’t reject, his entire body was too weak, his mind too fragile. 

Drowning kept spinning in his head, reminding him of the pain he experienced. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Vanoss said, he was shaking as well, holding him tightly to his chest. “You’re okay, you’re okay. You’re not dead, you’re alive, you survived.”

“I died,” Delirious muttered into Vanoss’s shirt. “I drowned. It hurt so badly.”

“I know,” Vanoss said, “I know.”

Someone else had fallen to their knees next to them. Delirious opened his eyes to see Cartoonz, he reached for the both of them and held them in his arms. 

“You’re okay,” Cartoonz whispered, his voice shaky and unsure, “we’re okay.”

Delirious closed his eyes, but he couldn’t get it out of his head. He was drowning, he couldn’t swim, all he could do was stare at his gauge as his life slipped away from him.


	10. chaotic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The virus is getting worse, now it's attacking them, and they'll have to find a way to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the nice comments. :) I do appreciate it very much.  
> I'm feeling better, so I'll be writing some chapters every few days. I do have newer stories for the BBS to write, they'll be written after this story is done. There is 2 atm, but I'm hoping for a third. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Vanoss and Cartoonz helped Delirious to his feet after awhile. Lui and Nogla caught up to them and was standing to the side.

Delirious didn’t look right. He was staring too much at the sand, his hands and body were shaking so badly that he even told them that he couldn’t walk. He was breathing heavily and Cartoonz was whispering to him, trying to calm him down.

“He fell from the sky?” Nogla wondered.

Lui narrowed his eyes at him. “What do you think started the explosion, Nogla? He fell, Cartoonz died first from the icon, then Delirious fell into the ocean and drowned.”

“Slow death,” Nogla commented.

“He was only in there for maybe ten or fifteen seconds, then he died,” Lui said, shaking his head. “It sucks. I wouldn’t want to die like that.”

“You fell out of moving car and got ran over by a truck,” Nogla said, reminding him of what happened out of the city. “What kind of death do _you_ want?”

“Not one that makes me suffer for too long.”

Vanoss had seen the explosion from afar, Lui had driven fast to the city. He was a better driver than they were and managed to get into minimum car accidents. He knew he spotted Delirious falling in the sky, he knew he was going to die, but he thought maybe Delirious would have saved himself the trouble.

The virus itself was gone. A plane no longer inhabited the sky, but the results of it was substantial.

“You’re okay,” Cartoonz said to Delirious.

Delirious nodded.

Where was the next glitch? Was it as a big as the plane, or even the NPC’s attacking them, what if it wasn’t as noticable.

Delirious turned to Vanoss, he gave a small weak smile then something appeared in his hand.

“It won’t go away,” he muttered, then he placed the gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger.

Vanoss jolted, blinking a few times as a spray of blood hit him and Cartoonz, Delirious’s body slumped to the ground and screams of the NPC’s echoed around them.

“What?” Vanoss found himself whispering.

“Delirious.” Cartoonz turned around and headed after Delirious who had spawned a several feet away from them.

“Why did he?” Before he could say anything more, above Delirious’s name, Miniladd’s appeared.

He stared at it and as it faded, Terrorisor’s name showed up next.

What? How did he die? Isn’t he with—

His phone went off, and he looked down at the screen to Moo’s number. Gritting his teeth, he glanced at Lui and Nogla before answering it.

“Moo?”

“He shot himself,” Moo said, his voice shaky, “I don’t know why. He was fine for a moment...I mean he was asking about Delirious and Cartoonz...are they okay?”

“Yeah,” Vanoss said, glancing over to Delirious and Cartoonz, both were on the bench several feet away, Cartoonz was talking to Delirious, who had his body curled inward. “They were getting rid of a glitch in the sky, they both died but they got it.”

“Okay, that’s good...I...I’m not really sure what’s going on, but you should get a hold of Wildcat and Miniladd and find out what happened. I still don’t know why Terroriser killed himself.”

“Has he spawned yet?”

“I don’t...What are you do—”

Vanoss flinched at the loud gunshot in his ear. He heard the sound of Moo’s body falling, and thought maybe whoever had killed him would pick up the phone, except the phone went dead in his ear. He looked up to see Moo’s name on the screen.

“What the fuck?” Vanoss muttered, tucking his phone back into his pocket and turning to Lui and Nogla. Something was going on that seemed to darken his thoughts to the possibility that what they had done only made things worse.

“I think,” Lui said, staring at the back of Delirious’s head, a look of confusion yet realization flashing in his eyes, he turned his gaze back to Vanoss and gestured for him to come forward.

Vanoss did.

“I think,” Lui repeated, this time a lot more quieter, “they’re not sane enough since they died more times than we did.”

Vanoss frowned, brows pinched. “What are you talking about?”

“Delirious and Cartoonz died more times...something must be messing with them, they’re deteriorating.”

“What about Terroriser and Miniladd?” Nogla asked, “they didn’t die as much as they did. What is their excuse?”

“I don’t think,” Lui shook his head, he sucked in a breath and looked at both of them, “I don’t think it’s that simple. Something is wrong, they just took out a virus and then our friends just died, including Delirious’s impulsive suicide.”

Vanoss didn’t like where this was going. “You think the virus is spreading to...us?”

Lui shrugged. “It’s a possibility. I’ll phone Wildcat.” He took out his phone and dialed Wildcat’s number.

Vanoss shuddered. He didn’t know what this meant for the rest of them. If the virus was spreading to them, how it would do that? They weren’t part of the game, they were just players, why would it affect them like that?

Under the hot sun, Vanoss couldn’t help but feel cold, a sort of weakness like a fever at his forehead, wrapping itself around his head. He blinked a few times, feeling strangely dizzy.

“Vanoss,” Nogla said, a sense of panic in his voice, his gaze downwards. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” he looked down and Nogla was right, the wound on his arm from the broken window in the car wasn’t as bleeding as harshly, but his sleeve was soaked in blood. There was a pain in his head from when he hit the back of the seat when the car slammed into the tree. His body still ached. He knew that he would heal, that he would be fine, that his health gauge would stay the same.

Except it wasn’t.

“What?” Lui said into the phone, his gaze on Vanoss, but he was shocked by whatever Wildcat was saying. He dropped the phone when Vanoss almost stumbled back. Grasping Vanoss’s arm, Nogla had the other. “Something’s wrong, you’re not healing.”

Vanoss shook his head, panting harshly through his mouth. “I don’t want to die…” he stared at his gauge that was going down, “I don’t want to die,” he looked at them, eyes wide with fear that circulated his veins, “please...please don’t let me die.”

Inch by inch, the gauge began to lower and then depleted completely.

Vanoss’s body stuttered and he fell, the last thing he heard was Lui and Nogla calling his name before the screen appeared before him.

Before he spawned back on the sidewalk several feet from where he died. He thought of the days when he played games with his friends, made music on the side, and thought of a future he could have. He didn’t know that he would be accustomed to death, that it would sink into his mind, spreading all over his body. The pain would never become a friend, but it was there anyway, an enemy following after him, waiting for him to falter.

It wasn’t as excruciating, but when he did spawn back. The first thing he felt was the warm wind against his skin, touching along his hair, and he almost doubled over if it wasn’t for Lui and Nogla rushing after him.

“What the fuck?” he asked, leaning against Nogla. “What the fuck is going on?”

“You must’ve opened your wounds, or been dying since the car accident,” Lui said, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

Vanoss nodded slowly. “I think so. I don’t feel any pain...maybe the remnant of it, but nothing else is bothering me besides this headache.”

“This is getting worse,” Nogla said, scowling. “We have to do something.”

“I agree,” Lui said, “Wildcat confirmed he shot Miniladd...he doesn’t know why, but he also said that Terroriser had killed himself, and he was already too late to save Moo.”

“So we’re essentially the virus, right?” Vanoss asked, righting himself and brushing off Lui and Nogla.

“I don’t know,” Lui said, looking up at the sky. “I’m sure we’re not, the virus must be attacking us because we’re trying to stop it. If we can find more in Los Santos’, than maybe we can finally escape this damn game.”

“Maybe is a big fucking assumption,” Nogla said.

“It’s all we have,” Lui told them.

Vanoss sighed, he looked over to Delirious and Cartoonz. “We should tell them what’s going to happen. I don’t think Delirious should be looking for anymore, he’s already too unstable, he might accidentally do something he doesn’t want to do.”

Lui nodded. “Alright. Let’s go tell them.”


	11. List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and Cartoonz try to save Moo, but things take a turn when Delirious receives a message on his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really schedule these updates. I'm also winging this entire story, so if it seems weird, that's the reason. :)
> 
> Kudo's and/or Comments are appreciative.

Delirious dug his fingers into his scalp. He couldn’t stop shaking. The sounds reverberated over and over again. Squeezing his eyes shut, he panted low, trying to gain some semblance of control back. He had panicked while in the sky, the gun falling from his fingers, only for him to get hit by debris, the water stunned his body and it dragged him down into its depths. 

The pressure itself was suffocating, and he knew he wasn’t going to be saved, he knew no one was going to come after him, and he was too far off, sinking and sinking as his sight began to tighten and fade. 

When he recovered, he couldn’t deal with it. How he hated this place, how everything in it was too much, the sound, the taste, the feel of it on his fingertips. Every little person that surrounded him only reminded him how much he had suffered and he would continue to do so until they escaped this nightmare.

Vanoss nor Cartoonz couldn’t stop it. He had to get it out of his head, to free himself from the torment, and if it had to be a bullet to his skull. The pain of something else more excruciating. So be it.

Now he sat on the bench with Cartoonz, shaking and trying to regain his control, his breath that left his throat as his heart raced in his chest. How could something so incredibly fake be real. It was intense, a collection of tormenting idealizations that covered him in pain and memory.

“Hey,” Lui’s voice rang through his panting breath, soft and uncomfortable. 

“Why did they die?” Cartoonz asked, his arm around Delirious’s shoulders, keeping him close to his side. 

Delirious only saw a flicker of their names popping up at the top of his sight. He couldn’t focus on it too much, but he already knew what it meant.

“The virus...it might be influencing us...we have to find the virus’s,” Lui told them. 

“What do you mean it might be influencing us?” Cartoonz asked.

“Moo didn’t know why Terroriser killed himself, and Wildcat simply shot Miniladd.”

“We’re not part of the game, Lui,” Cartoonz said, his voice tense. “How the fuck can it influence us? We’re only the players, the gamers of this fucking thing. How is it possible?”

“We don’t know,” Vanoss said.

Delirious almost perked his head up to look at him, but he was still shaking and he couldn’t move. 

Vanoss sighed, “All we do know is that every time we destroy the glitch, we’re affected as well. I think you and Delirious should stay out of this one while we go find the other glitches.”

“This could take days.”

“Might not,” Lui said. “Can you ask him…”

“How it felt to die?” Cartoonz asked, and Delirious could hear the sneer in his voice, his fingers were already curling into Delirious’s arm. “He drowned for fuck sakes. It was bad enough he couldn’t shoot himself.”

“It was the same,” Delirious muttered, he didn’t raise his head, but he knew the others heard him. “It was the same...effect. I don’t know if it worked.”

“Vanoss?” Nogla wondered, “you just died not even a minute ago.”

Delirious’s brows furrowed. He hadn’t realized, and as he managed to raise his head to look up at Vanoss who stood to the side, fingers wringing. He was staring at the cement, sweat already on his forehead and pasting his bangs to his face. 

“I’m not really sure if it did work.”

_ How did you die? _

“Well, by the time we find the other glitches, most of us will be able to figure it out,” Lui said, “we should get going.”

Delirious watched them walk away and disappear around the corner. He stayed with Cartoonz as much as he could, still shaking with the pressure at his fingertips, it ached in his bones and around his torso. He could even feel the remains of the shard of metal slashing into his body when he tried to kill himself in open air.

“What do you want to do?” Cartoonz asked.

“I’m hungry,” Delirious said.

“I’ll get something,” Cartoonz said, getting up and walking down the sidewalk toward a hotdog stall.

Delirious didn’t know if the NPC’s would actually give him a hotdog, but he didn’t question it. Not when Cartoonz returned with one in his hand, it was slathered with both ketchup and mustard.

“Is it edible?” Delirious asked, taking the hotdog in his hand.

“Probably not,” Cartoonz said, “but we’re able to drink stuff...so maybe it is.”

“Wonderful.” Delirious opened his mouth and took a bite. It wasn’t disgusting, and there was no strange taste to it. It was simply a hotdog. 

“I was thinking about what Lui said earlier,” Cartoonz began, “how the virus or glitch is affecting us whenever we take one out. Like why would Wildcat kill Miniladd, or Terroriser kill himself?”

“Who killed Moo?” Delirious asked, remembering seeing his name.

“Terroriser, probably.”

Delirious shook his head, taking another bite. He didn’t really understand it either, there was something wrong with this game, or whatever the hacker had done to it was making it worse. At least for them. 

After maybe a few minutes, Delirious finishes his hotdog and asked Cartoonz to get him another one. He sat alone, then his cellphone went off.

Thinking maybe it was Vanoss, he looked at the caller ID and arched a brow.

“Moo?”

“Hey,” he said, panting into the phone, “Vanoss and the others said you and Cartoonz were at the beach.”

Delirious looked over his shoulder and an ugly feeling washed over him when he looked at the blue waves. He turned back. “Yeah.”

“That’s great, I’m not far from there...can you come meet me?”

Delirious turned his head to see Cartoonz walking over to them. He had his own hotdog in his hand. 

“Uh...sure...why?”

“Terroriser is shooting at me. He already smashed my car and I’m bleeding from the impact.”

Delirious stood up, but he almost fell back when the ground tilted. “What are you talking about?  Why is he chasing you?”

Cartoonz arched a brow. Mouthing, ‘What’s going on?’

“I don’t know. After he killed me, he said he seen something and now he’s chasing after me. I need you to come meet me.” He groaned when a gunshot was heard in the background, a skidding car and screaming NPC’S, “Please, I don’t want to die again.”

Delirious heard the panic and the pain in his voice when he pleaded. “Okay, we’re coming.”

He got off the phone, fingers shaking at his sides as he tucked his cell into his pocket. “Moo is getting chased down by Terroriser.” He was already walking down the sidewalk, the ground tilting to the side, and he almost fell twice if it wasn’t for Cartoonz keeping him upright. He panted hard, he knew he shouldn’t be moving around, not when he died twice in the span of mere minutes, the flashes of falling, a shard of metal slicing through skin, the pain subduing him to the confines of the water that sunk him deeper into its hold.

“Why the fuck is he being chased?” Cartoonz asked, matching his pace.

“I have no fucking idea, but if Terroriser keeps making a mess of the street, the cops will be on his ass, and possibly on Moo’s.” 

They started to run, pushing past NPC’s that were in their way. Delirious fumbled with his phone and to his surprise there was a radar app installed. He figured it was always there, but he didn’t think much of it when he connected Moo’s signal too it.

He lead the way, running through alleys and down the streets, making sure not to get hit by oncoming cars or NPC’s that didn’t bother to move.

Then they were there, a few feet as they turned the corner and Moo was on the ground, scrambling to his feet.

“Moo!” Delirious looked to see Terroriser with a shotgun, he find this a bit ironic since Terroriser enjoyed action movies, “Run, Moo!”

Cartoonz took out a sniper rifle out from his weapon wheel and pointed toward Terroriser. 

“Don’t miss,” Delirious told him.

Cartoonz grinned. “Yeah, yeah.”

Terroriser killed an NPC that lying on the ground, then he pointed his gun at Moo.

When did his friends start killing them when they knew death was more in this game, when it was an attack on their minds. A flare of shock and pain that stuck to their limbs and nerves. The memory of pain so clear and authentic that it left them immobile.

Shouldn’t Terroriser of all people understand that? Why was he trying to kill Moo?

Moo locked eyes with Delirious and a spray of bullets hit Moo in the back. He choked blood from his lips and tumbled to the ground. Fingers reaching out and a silent word left his lips before he succumbed to death.

_ Please. _

Before Delirious could absorb what happened, sirens cut into the still air. He looked to his right and caught sight of the bright blue and red flickering lights that were making its way toward them.

Terroriser turned to them, and there was a sort of glassy look in his eyes before he placed the shotgun underneath his chin, and Delirious flinched when he pulled the trigger. 

He turned to Cartoonz, “What the fuck? You were supposed to kill him.”

Cartoonz shook his head. “I was a little focused on the fucking cops.” He switched the gun to an automatic and pointed up. “I have a star.”

“Fucking wonderful,” Delirious muttered and they went sprinting down the street, away from the dead bodies of their friends and the cops that were chasing after them. 

When they turned the corner, Cartoonz pointed the gun at a car window and shot it out. Delirious reached in for the lock and pulled the door open. Cartoonz got into the driver’s seat, and started to hotwire the car.

Delirious took out his own gun, fingers tightening around the handle. He looked in the rearview mirror to see a cop car skidding around the corner.

“Uh, you might want to hurry,” Delirious said, pointing his gun at the car. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take it out, not with the bulletproof wheels and glass. It would take a lot more force to kill the cops within.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cartoonz muttered.

The car came to life and Cartoonz put the car in drive. He disregarded the cops and backed up then moved to the right. The cop came speeding towards them, and Delirious fired his gun. 

He pushed back the fear of dying and tried to shoot the cop’s hand that was sticking out the window. 

Cartoonz came to a fast stop, and Delirious almost turned around to ask him what the fuck he was doing. But Moo came sprinting down the street towards them, he had his own gun, a sheet of sweat was over his face, and he shot one of the cops in the arm. 

“This isn’t good,” Delirious muttered.

Cartoonz backed up, hitting the cop car. “No shit.”

Moo slid over the cop car and grasped the door to the car, he opened it and jumped in. “Drive, drive.”

The car jerked forward, the wheels skidding, and then they were off down the street, leaving the cops behind them. 

Delirious sat back into his seat, placing his gun in his lap and taking out his cellphone. His fingers were shaking, he didn’t know from what, maybe adrenaline, maybe it was from the edge he stood on and he was scared of falling into death again. The thought made him clench his teeth.

“Vanoss?” 

“Yeah, what...did Moo die again?”

“Yes, he did,” Moo groaned from the back seat.

“Something is wrong,” Delirious said, looking in the side mirror, the cops were gaining on them again. “Terroriser attacked us. We don’t know why? The game shouldn’t be affecting us!”

“Shit,” Lui said in the background. “There’s a message on my phone...whatever this virus is, it’s giving us a few hours—in this game it’s practically seconds—to kill each other. I have Nogla on mine, Wildcat, and Basically.”

“Or what?” Cartoonz asked, obviously listening in.

“Or they might attack us again, I don’t fucking know,” Lui said.

Delirious looked through his phone and there it was. A list. He opened the message and took a deep breath.

“You wouldn’t guess what’s on mine,” he said, almost giving a fake laugh, but he couldn’t.

“What? Who are you meant to kill?”

Delirious closed his eyes, hoping the names would disappear, but when he opened them, they sat on the screen in black text, staring back, mocking him relentlessly.

_ Cartoonz _

_ Lui _

_ Vanoss _


	12. wavering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss, Lui, and Nogla suffer under the new rules of the glitch, but Vanoss has enough of its games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. :) I hope you're still enjoying this story. I'm hoping to finish it soon so I can get onto the three stories that I've promised and repeated for the past few chapters and weeks.  
> I realize that I'm being repetitive with this story, and I know, it's not really fun when it happens over and over again. So I'm going to try and do this in another way, and find an ending. :D
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Lui stopped the car on the side of the road, placing his head against the steering wheel. Vanoss sat in the passenger seat, staring down at his phone. He read the message over and over again, but it didn’t make it any better. He wanted to throw up, he could feel the nausea slipping through his body, the light headed feeling.

“What do we do?” Nogla asked, lying on the seat behind them. He had materialized a gun in his hand, a simple pistol that was a bright pink.

Lui sniffled and sat upright. He raised his chin and said, “You let me kill you.”

“And what of Wildcat?” Vanoss asked.

Lui turned his head and shrugged. “Who knows. He already killed Miniladd, might as well get him off the list as well.”

Vanoss looked down at his phone. The message appeared after the phone call with Delirious, and he had tightened his hold on it.

The first name was Moo’s.

He already died from Terrorizer, why should he kill him again? He thought maybe after taking down two glitches, the death would be easier, but from Delirious and his own death not even twenty minutes ago, the effect was still strong.

Vanoss looked down at his arm where the cut was, where it was bleeding and he didn’t realize how much blood he was losing, nor that his own gauge was going down. He didn’t know, all that mattered was finding Delirious, to make sure that he was alright.

He wasn’t, after seeing the trauma on his face, the gun to his head, the sound of the bullet and the spray of blood. He knew he wouldn’t get the sound out of his head. The game felt too real, uncomfortable and surreal. He knew they would come back, that it would simply be an unfortunate circumstance.

He knew better than that.

His experience taught him that just because he felt something, doesn’t mean others don’t feel it as well. The pain in his chest, the ache in his arms, the shaky outcome and the horror of what they will have to do.

“It’ll be fast,” Lui said, a promise as he squeezes his fingers around the steering wheel.

Nogla sighs in the back seat and then he sits up, looks at the back of Lui’s head, and Vanoss sees the melancholy in his eyes, but also the trust.

“Okay.”

Vanoss stays in the car as both Nogla and Lui exit. He doesn’t look, not when Nogla hands him his gun and Lui stares at it for a moment before raising it. Vanoss stares down at his phone, at the names on the screen, and he tenses, blinking, breath coming out in a shudder when Lui pulls the trigger.

There’s always the silence afterward. As if death mocks the living that surrounds it, the people who scream in the distance, and Lui who stands with his arms at his sides.

Vanoss watches Lui dropping the gun and starts to run. Vanoss looks in the rearview mirror to see Lui running toward Nogla who had fallen to his knees, his hands at his head, he could hear the scream from within the car, and before Vanoss looks away, Lui has fallen to his knees in front of him, and wraps his arms around Nogla’s shoulders.

Death. Over and over again, a frustration, a cycle, continuously rebirthed with the same pain as when they go out. The remnant of it, the memory, haunting them without remorse.

It takes a few minutes, but Lui and Nogla return to the car, and they’re silent. Nogla is lying back down in the back seat, words not leaving his lips. Lui is shaking, exhaustion on his face as he takes his phone out.

“One down,” Lui mutters, he places the phone to his ear, and they wait and wait until Lui says, “where are you?”

Vanoss knows he’s calling Wildcat, and it was only a matter of time anyway. He doesn't want to kill Moo just yet, he wants to at least wait for a bit longer. Except he’s going to have to do it soon, his time is running out. They got another few hours left, which in this game means at least twenty or so minutes until the inevitable.

“Okay, we’re coming that way,” Lui says. He hangs up, drops his phone in the cup holder and starts up the car. “You should get a hold of Delirious and tell him to meet us near Pillbox Medical Center.”

Vanoss nods. He phones Delirious, listening to the ring until his voice enters his ear and there’s a sort of relief in his body at hearing his voice.

“Can you meet us at Pillbox Medical Center?”

“Why?” Delirious asked.

“That’s where Lui is going to kill Wildcat,” Vanoss said, his mouth going dry, “and where I’m going to kill Moo.”

“Great,” Delirious said dryly. “I’m going to kill a bunch of you anyway. Might as well get it over with.”

Vanoss smiled. He knew that his name must be on Delirious’s list, but there was a small part of him that didn’t want that to be true. Delirious was already hurt as it was, why pour salt on the wound when it was already festering?

“Meet you there.”

“Yeah.”

A strange irrational fear rose in Vanoss’s throat. He wanted to say something, but his hands were shaking and his heart was racing, and the words wouldn’t leave him. Then he hung up and placed his phone in his lap.

Vanoss tries to steady his breath, but it was already too late. He was hyperventilating, and Lui stopped the car, when he had done that, Vanoss didn’t care. He grabbed for the door handle and slipped out, tripping over the sidewalk and falling to the ground. The pain jolted him, but he squeezed his eyes closed, trying to grasp hold of himself to ease the pain from his mind.

“It’s not real,” Lui said, standing beside him.

“It feels like it, over and over again, I can’t get it out of my head,” Vanoss said, fingers curling.

The first moment when he knew this wasn’t a game, the bullet had sunk into his stomach, and it was already too late when another bullet cut into his forehead. He tried to hold back the sickening feeling that overwhelmed him, but he couldn’t. Death was so frail, breaking again and again.

“Taking a life...is fucked up.”

“Yeah,” Nogla said, peeking his head out of the window, “thought maybe we’d get used to it by now.”

“True,” said Lui, shaking his head. “Who knew this would be a complication.”

Vanoss breathed, and with all the pain and fear of dying, the fingers of death wrapping itself around his neck. He had enough of it, he was done playing this game, and he knew that pain and fear can become something else if he only will it.

Anger twisted inside of him, and everything else wavered under its underlying touch that rose to the surface.

Vanoss stood up, brushed off his clothes, and with his shaky fingers, he turned toward his friends and gave them a meaningful smile.

“Let’s go kill our friends.”


	13. massacre pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious has to accept what is going on even how terrible the rules of the game is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit short. My bad. I didn't want to add too much so I don't ruin Vanoss's pov. I hope you enjoy. :) The story feels like it's coming to an end, so I'll try to add a bit more stuff into it, if not, then you know that I'm terrible at writing certain things. (romance, for instance.) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

It didn’t take long for them to get to Pillbox Hill Medical Center. Delirious was dreading it the whole time, but he checked his gun and counted the bullets. He knew he wasn’t going to miss any of them, but he wanted to make sure in case he had to kill some bystanders. 

“Are you going to tell them?” Cartoonz asked.

“They’ll know,” Delirious responded, smoothing his fingers on the sides of the gun. Knowing he’d have to use it against his friends, but there was something he was trying to do for sometime since he shot himself in the head to stop the pain, he was trying to accept it.

As they turned down the street, Delirious didn’t expect the chaos but he should’ve. There were already dead bodies lying on the ground, cars skewed to the side, and Lui stood in the center of it all with a gun pointed to Wildcat’s face.

Vanoss and Nogla were to the side, leaning against a car. Vanoss had a phone in his hand, and he looked up once Cartoonz slowed down next to a burning vehicle. 

“Ready?” Cartoonz asked.

“Not really,” Delirious said, but they got out of the car anyway. It was the afternoon, and soon it’ll be evening. The sun was already going down, and the warm air began to grow cold in the shade of the buildings. The only heat that warmed his skin was the fires coming from the burning cars around them. 

“Someone called Lester?” Moo said, looking around.

Delirious did notice there were not sign of cops anywhere. And he had forgot about Lester’s advantage. 

“Looks like it,” Cartoonz said.

Delirious noticed Basically and Fourzeroseven standing on the other side of Lui and Wildcat near their own car. They looked exhausted, holding guns and a bottle of alcohol. He also spotted Miniladd and Terroriser sitting on the curve.

The sight of Terroriser seemed to seize Moo, he had stopped, words failing him, and at the same time Terroriser noticed him as well. A look of fear and yearning, he almost got up if it weren’t for Miniladd grabbing his arm. 

“This is about to get awkward,” Cartoonz said.

Delirious nodded, slowly his gaze went back to Vanoss, and his fingers tightened around the gun’s handle. It would be so easy to do it, to kill him, but there was a part of him that didn’t want too. 

Vanoss was looking at them as well, but there was something peculiar about his stare. He looked past Delirious and at Moo, his brows furrowed and he said something to Nogla who gave a nod. 

“I’m guessing who Vanoss is about to kill,” Delirious said, tilting his head to look at Moo, a troubled expression passed over his features.

Moo shook his head. “I died twice today.” Delirious and Cartoonz both scowled in unison, but all Moo did was shrug, giving them both an awkward smile. “Sorry.”

When Delirious turned back, Vanoss’s attention went to Lui and Wildcat. The air around them was tense and strained. Their features broken, Wildcat’s in rage, while Lui in solemn. His hand shook around the gun he held, knuckles white from holding it so tightly. Wildcat simply shook his head, obviously annoyed.

“Hurry up and kill me,” Wildcat yelled, making Lui jump from the echo that surrounded them, the others went still, Delirious had stopped walking and simply watched, then Wildcat’s voice lowered, his gaze fell to the ground, fingers tightened in fists at his sides, “or I’ll do it myself.”

Lui’s face broke out into an uneasy smile. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Hurry up then,” he said, glaring. “Everyone is waiting for you to kill me, Lui, stop making them fucking wait any—”

Lui shot him and Wildcat’s body toppled to the ground. There was a silence that strained around them, cutting into all of them at the same time. 

Miniladd stared at the body before his gaze lifted to Lui. “Anybody else?”

Cartoonz backed away from Delirious, a smile on his lips, he spread his arms as the others looked at them. “Come on, Delirious, kill me.”

Delirious’s lips parted. Everything he felt inside of him faltered for a split second, he knew this was coming, he knew he was going to do it. Easy. He kept saying it over and over again. 

This was not easy.

“Jonathan,” Cartoonz said, getting his attention again, a softness came upon his face, his eyes were clear and knowing, and he gave Delirious a small nod, “this is a game, that’s all it is, a game. What we feel is not our fault, and we will escape, but we’re players, and we must play the game even how dumb the rules are.”

“What if I don’t want to follow the rules?” Delirious asked, he glanced to Vanoss for only a moment, before his attention went to Cartoonz. “I don’t want to hurt any of you. That wasn’t my intention.”

Cartoonz smiled. “I know. Breathe in, accept this is a game and all it’s fucked up rules, and kill me.”

Delirious breathed in deeply, blinking back tears from his eyes, he lifted the gun and pointed it at Cartoonz. It was like time stopped for a moment and he had to think about all of his friends and everything they went through. The pain and trauma that stabbed them over and over again, and whoever was controlling the world itself was laughing at them. 

He wanted to fight back, he wanted to do something that didn’t harm his friends, but there were restrictions, and it didn’t mean he’d get everything he wanted. 

This is a game and nothing else.

He pulled the trigger and all he could truly hear was the gasp from Cartoonz’s lips before his body fell to the ground. He didn’t look at the body, he blinked a few times, breathing deeply to gain back a bit of his control.

“My turn,” Basically said, pushing himself away from the car, turning and shooting Fourzeroseven in the face, he turned and sauntered past Lui toward Vanoss and Nogla where he shot both of them in the forehead.

“What the fuck, Marcel?” Terroriser called, standing by himself. 

Miniladd had run past them toward Wildcat who was holding onto a street pole, a hand on his head.

“I had to get it over with,” Basically yelled, “okay, I had to get it out of my head before I go insane.”

“You’re right,” Lui said, checking his gun, then he turned and shot Basically. His body toppled next to Vanoss’s.

Delirious frowned, his hands shaking. He noticed Cartoonz was sitting on the sidewalk with his fingers on the sides of his head. He looked down at his gun, swallowed the lump in his throat, only to raise it at the back of Lui’s head.

“It’s only a game,” he told himself, he blinked when he shot Lui.

And now there was only one person on his list.


	14. Massacre pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss is trying to deal with constantly dying, but he sees something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Thanks to whoever is sticking around, reading my story, and appreciating it. :)   
> I'm actually not sure how many more chapters there is, I'm hoping 3-4. I don't know yet.   
> I know I might not add certain characters, but they will show up in other chapters. Mostly because I focus on a few in each chapter. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Vanoss hadn’t noticed when he landed on his knees, hands on the ground, gasping for air. How long would this last for? The pain echoing in his forehead, he gritted his teeth, annoyed by the constant pain. 

He slowly raised his head to see Basically on the ground several feet away from him, he was curled and screaming. Fourzeroseven was close by, sitting on the sidewalk, face in his hands. Wildcat was still talking with Miniladd, a nod between each other before Miniladd rose, a gun appeared in his hand and he shot Wildcat in the head. His body slumping against the ground, blood spraying on Miniladd’s pant legs and shoes.

Vanoss looked away and his gaze went to Moo who was standing by the car he arrived in with Cartoonz and Delirious. He noticed the look Delirious was giving him, the patient and yet cornered expression whenever he didn’t know what to do. A look that reminded him of his own decisions that he was going to make. 

Vanoss rose from the ground, almost stumbling as his legs felt like jelly. His shaky hand wrapped around a pistol, heavy in his hand, cold, and not in the least comforting. 

He knew what Delirious was going to do, but as he walked by, he didn’t stop him. There was conflict in his eyes as they went to Lui’s fading body. His actual body was on the other side of the street with Nogla.

Moo was looking down at the road, fingers wringing in front of him. He perked his head up when he noticed Vanoss walking over to him, and his entire body went completely still. 

Vanoss stopped, five feet away from him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he gave Moo a sheepish smile.

“I know,” Moo said, glancing to their far right where Terroriser was sitting, hands covering his head.

Vanoss nodded slowly once Moo looked at him again. His stomach churned, and his mouth went dry, with a deep sigh, he raised his hand that held the gun and pointed it at Moo.

He didn’t know if he could look at him, but he did anyway, even how difficult it was. Moo stared at him, glancing at the gun and at Vanoss, a weak smile came to his face. 

Why did killing feel so terrible? Maybe because he knew how it felt, the trauma wracking his brain and spasming his body. 

He couldn’t do anything to stop this, and it sucked that he had no control. This was how it was going to be, and he’d have to accept it.

“Close your eyes,” Vanoss said to Moo, hand shaking. “It’s better if you close your eyes, if you don’t look.”

Moo shrugged, eyes watering. “It’s real either way.”

Vanoss sucked in a breath, and when he exhaled, he gave Moo a reassuring smile. “Please close your eyes.”

Moo’s eyes fluttered shut, and Vanoss shot him. His body hit the ground and the sound echoed in Vanoss’s head.

“It’s not real.”

“I know,” Vanoss said, turning to look at Delirious who stood still on the road with his hand idly holding the gun. “I don’t understand why it’s affecting us so much. I get it’s a game, we died many times before, but this…”

“We’ll escape and that will be it,” Delirious said, and maybe he was trying to be reassuring, but Vanoss couldn’t feel anything.

Moo appeared twenty feet away from them, he fell instantly to his knees and started to cough. Terroriser raced toward him, falling to his knees and wrapping an arm around Moo’s shoulders. He was spasming, yelling, fingers tightening in the fabric of Terroriser’s shirt.

“You think we’ll get used to it?” Vanoss asked. He died earlier, his gauge going down and the blood draining from his arm, he hadn’t felt it, not right away. It happened anyway, and he died with the feeling of cold washing over his body.

Delirious licked his lips. “We’ll just have to find out.”

Vanoss nodded. He glanced over to Lui sitting beside Nogla, and their eyes met. The truth was there, a sort of lingering declaration that lasted a second. He started to walk toward him, while Lui stood, brushing off Nogla’s hands.

A hand grasped his arm, stopping him. “What are you doing?” Delirious asked.

Vanoss looked over his shoulder, “He’s on my list.”

Delirious jaw clenched and his hand faltered. “He’s a better shot than you are.” 

Vanoss couldn’t help but scowl. His death by Basically was still ringing in his ears, the gunfire, the mixture of shock and pain flowing through his mind, making him shudder. Death was too easy, he could taste the copper in his mouth each time he came back to life, the phantom wound in his head, in his stomach, making him blink back tears.

In all that, he was frustrated, he wanted out of this, he wanted to stop killing his friends, and he wanted them to stop killing him.

He turned back and when he was about to fire, Lui grinned and shot the gun out of his hand, it clattered to their right.

“Scared?” he asked, there was a sort of odd look in his eyes, something less sane than they were a few minutes ago. Lui was also shaking, his smile determined and coaxing. “How was your death, Evan? You didn’t even see it coming.”

“I’m not dumb,” Vanoss said, shrugging, taking out another gun. “I saw it coming.”

“You didn’t stop it.”

“You didn’t either.”

“Delirious shot me in the back of the head,” Lui shrugged, he fired the gun, this time it went past him and hit Delirious in the shoulder.

He stumbled back, a harsh gasp left his lips, but his shock turned into a glare, “Fucking Lui.” Fingers drenched in blood that oozed from the open wound.

“Can you feel that?” Lui asked, a chuckle leaving his lips. “We all have to kill each other, we all feel it, all the pain and bullshit. I still feel the bullet in my head.”

“You wouldn’t mind feeling another one?” Vanoss asked, pulling the trigger, except Vanoss shot Nogla.

“What the fuck?” Nogla yelled, hands holding his stomach.

“This isn’t a fucking game, you idiots,” Wildcat yelled from the sidewalk.

Delirious laughed, hands drenched in blood. “Isn’t it? That’s why we’re here, right? To play a fucking game.”

Another gun went off, but this time it was to their far right where Moo stood over Terroriser’s body, a gun in his hand. He stood, panting hard and glaring at the others. 

“Close your eyes, Evan,” he said, a smile spreading across his face as he raised the gun.

Vanoss gritted his teeth when Moo pulled the trigger, the bullet sinking into his side. He fell onto his knee, gasping for air, pain escalated along with it. “Fuck.”

“I’m killing him first,” Lui said, glaring at Moo.

“No,” Moo said, stepping over Terroriser’s body and walking toward Vanoss. “He’s on my list.”

Vanoss blinked back the haze in his eyes, except with all the pain, he could only feel annoyance. Blunt and difficult that stuck into his body like pins. “Who else has me on their list? You might as well all kill me.”

Wildcat rolled his eyes, he got up, and without even saying anything. He walked past Lui, took out his gun, and before anyone else could say anything to stop him. He pressed the gun against Vanoss’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

Vanoss gasped, but he wasn’t alive. Not yet, it always took a moment in that grey screen, a moment to feel all the pain of death, the steel sinking into his skin, the ash and copper in his mouth, air leaving his lungs, and body seizing up. He wanted to move, to scream, to release the pressure that occupied everything else inside his body that wasn’t pain.

He blinked his eyes, and before the grey screen can fade, he noticed something new. Something blinking before him, he couldn’t read it, not when he was pulled back into life and he was standing on the sidewalk, sucking in a breath of air that filled his lungs from suffocation.

“He was mine,” Lui said.

“Shut up, you had him in your sights, and you didn’t bother pulling the trigger, you fucking coward,” Wildcat said, sneering in Lui’s face.

Besides hearing his own gasping, an echo of a gun went off, and a body falling to the ground was what he heard next. Wildcat was lying sprawled on the ground with a hole in his forehead. Lui stood over his body, standing completely still before dropping his hand to his side.

Moo was staring at him, brows pinched. 

Vanoss finally moved, staggering over to him. He couldn’t get the word from his head, blinking so quickly he could barely make it out.

“Kill me,” he whispered, still trying to breathe.

“What?” Moo asked, tilting his head.

Vanoss nodded. “Kill me.”

“Hey, wait,” Delirious called, but Moo already raised the gun and shot him.

His mouth parted, but he looked for the word. It was there in front of him, blinking too quickly, but he noticed it was slowing down. He still couldn’t make it out, not with the pain clawing at him from another bullet slamming into his skull.

Vanoss was brought back and this time, Delirious was running toward him. Before he could fall over, Delirious grabbed him by the shoulders. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay.”

Vanoss shook his head. “Something is there...on the screen…”

“What?”

Vanoss tried pushing Delirious away, “I need Lui to kill me, I need to see what it was.”

“Hey, you died too many times today,” Delirious said, still holding him.

Vanoss gritted his teeth, but it was too much, all the pain was mixing into rage. He grabbed Delirious arm, pushing him off. “Who the fuck cares? You and I died too many times, it’s a game.”

“It’s killing us,” Delirious yelled back, grasping his shoulders. “Don’t you see, we’re all fraying at the edges. It’s fucking with us.”

Vanoss panted, looking into Delirious’s eyes. He didn’t want it to happen, it was too much, but he needed it to happen. Vanoss leaned closer to him, he knew and Delirious knew, and everyone knew what was going to happen.

“Kill me, Delirious.”


	15. ready or not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is about to run out, and without knowing what will truly happen, things take a turn for the better, of course until Vanoss is shot in the stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had troubles figuring out how I was going to finish this story. I'm completely winging this story like I do with any other story I write because I can't outline anything, I tried many times, but outlining is not for me.  
> I had this idea for masks and I really enjoy the idea of it, and while I was trying to figure this story out, it came to me. It gave me the ending of this story, so yeah, I'm happy. :)
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Delirious stared into Vanoss’s eyes, and there was no sign of defiance, but acceptance on his part. The words echoed inside his head. He tightened his fingers around the handle of his gun, but he didn’t raise it.

Vanoss shook his head, sneering as he turned to face Lui.

“I actually was planning to kill you, but everyone beat me to it,” Delirious said, chuckling.

He didn’t really want to think it was funny, mostly because he didn’t want to kill Vanoss. His name on the list was a shock, and since gaining the list, it seemed more like a joke. A ploy to whoever was plotting this virus was trying their hardest to make them all go insane from the rough edge of death that dug into their skin, over and over again with hot metal slicing through vein and bone.

A game.

Ironic in every way possible.

His phone started to ring, interrupting his dark thoughts as he dug into his pocket, confused on who would be calling him.

“Where are you?” Ohmwrecker asked, his voice scratchy and dry.

Delirious’s mind went blank for only a moment before he let out a laugh that made the others look at him. “Oh, hey, we’re by Pillbox Medical Center, where are you?”

“I’m still at Terroriser’s apartment,” Ohm told him, “where did you guys go?”

Delirious looked to Terroriser who was rising from the cement. “You guys left Ohm back at the apartment, he just woke up.”

“Oh shit,” Terroriser said, placing his hands on the sides of his head, “I forgot about him.”

“You missed a lot,” Delirious told him, winking at Vanoss who was still glaring at him, “we’re all killing each other...hey you got a list, right?”

“A list? For what?”

“Apparently it showed up awhile ago and we’re meant to kill each other to stop the virus, if we don’t kill each other...well we don’t really know what would happen.” Delirious shrugged, he glanced to all of his friends, and the pain was notable on their faces, some even looked annoyed, strained by the constant death they had to endure, while the others wore blank expressions.

“I have…” Ohmwrecker murmured on the other line, “You, Cartoonz, and Vanoss.”

Delirious’s brows arched, and then he let out a laugh that went on for a few seconds, gaining more annoyed glares from the others. “Looks like you’re going to die by someone else’s hand, Vanoss.”

“Really?” Vanoss asked, shaking his head, he held his own gun loosely in his hand, “Ohm too?”

“I have this count down on my phone,” Ohmwrecker said, “ten seconds? What is that about?”

Delirious’s mouth opened, but no words left him as realization came to mind, he nodded slowly. “Good luck, you’re about to die.” Then he hung up and looked down at his own screen, he had thirty seconds to kill Vanoss.

Vanoss seemed to notice the hesitation on his face, he turned and shot Lui in the head.

Another gun fire went off, and Moo had killed Basically, while Wildcat shot Nogla. Miniladd had a gun focused on Vanoss, and the bullet tore through the air and slammed into his leg.

He fell, gasping and his gun went tumbling from his fingers. Another bullet sunk into the side of his head.

It was quick, violent, and Delirious only had a moment to react when he felt the gun press against the back of his head.

“Sorry,” Cartoonz said, then Delirious was shoved into the grey screen. And he saw what Vanoss was talking about, there was a word flashing but he couldn’t make it out. Then he was brought back.

Ohmwrecker’s name was at the top of the screen, along with everyone else who died.

He looked around for Vanoss and when he found him gripping a metal pole, trying to drag himself to his feet, Delirious went running toward him. The others were killing each other, but Vanoss was the last one on his list and currently that was all that mattered.

Vanoss noticed his approach and materialized a gun in his hand. Delirious was several feet away when Vanoss shot him in the stomach. He stumbled and fell onto Vanoss who was slammed against the cement. They both groaned, and Delirious feel the blood soaking his shirt. He lifted himself up, the gun pliant in his hand as he pressed it to the side of Vanoss’s head.

Vanoss grinned, his own gun pointed at Delirious’s temple. “Do it.”

“And let you kill me when I respawn?” he asked, his head tightened at the shock of getting shot, it was hard enough when he tasted copper in his throat.

“It’s going to happen one way or another,” Vanoss’s brows pushed together, and Delirious contemplated why Vanoss looked sad, maybe even wounded by what was happening, “but at least it’s our choice right, instead of suicide.”

Delirious managed a weak smile. “Yeah. That’s what I always wanted, to get killed by my best friend.”

Vanoss smile faded from his lips, and there was something in his eyes, a desperation that made him tighten his hold on the handle of his gun. “It’s better, right?”

“Not really,” Delirious said, and he knew their time was about to be over, “on three?”

“Three,” Vanoss murmured, licking his lips.

“Two.”

Before they pulled the trigger, they heard one thing being yelled in the background. Lui calling out to everyone who was killing each other, a sound of excitement in his voice.

“It doesn’t hurt!”

The grey screen bloomed in his eyes and there was no pain in his body, he didn’t gasp from the feeling of having a bullet go into his head, nor the seizing that made him think his bones would break. There was nothing, a mute suspension in his head, and before Delirious was pulled out.

He saw the word had stopped blinking and it stared back at him in bright letters.

_WelcomeHome_

Delirious stood near the once burning cars that were now husks than anything else. He looked down at his hands, and he wasn’t shaking, there was no recollection of pain, no dizziness or nausea. Nothing, he felt nothing, and that was the greatest thing he has ever experienced since entering the game.

A smile rose to his lips as his chest swelled, he almost felt like crying. Instead he went running toward the others, mostly to Vanoss who was standing near Moo and Lui.

“It doesn’t hurt!” He enveloped Vanoss into a tight embrace, his face tucked into his neck, and he couldn’t feel Vanoss’s warmth, nor the feeling of Vanoss returning the hug. He couldn’t feel the wind, nor smell or taste anything, and it was perfect.

They moved away from each other, and he caught the smiles on his friend’s faces. They all looked strained from killing each other. Death was too close, they had fallen into its hold for hours, and managed to last.

“WelcomeHome?” Vanoss said, looking at Lui who was standing beside Daithi, “one word, what does it mean?”

“It means that is the name of the virus that trapped us here,” Lui explained, “it’s the only reasonable thing that makes sense. We played by its rules, destroyed the viruses that attacked us, so it revealed itself to us.”

Cartoonz was looking at something, his brows furrowed. “I still can’t leave the game.”

“What the fuck?” Wildcat asked, also checking the menu, “why can’t we leave? We solved it, we played its fucking game, why the fuck can’t—”

“Hey, guys,” Vanoss said, looking past Lui, “what the fuck is that?”

They all turned to what Vanoss was pointing at.

Delirious wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at, but he noticed the changes around it. All the cars and the NPC’s were gone from the entire block, and it stood in the middle of the street, staring at them.

“What the fuck is that?” Daithi asked.

“I think,” Vanoss said, a gun appearing in his hand, “is _who_ the fuck is that?”

The person was similar height to them in their game character form, they were slim, wearing a black jacket, black shirt, black jeans and sneakers. They weren’t holding anything in their hands, and their hair was also black, while their face was covered by a mask with X’s as eyes, and a crooked smile.

It spoke in a sort of strange way as if it were using a voice modifier, “WelcomeHome.”

“Holy shit,” Lui said, taking out his advanced sniper with the thermal scope, “that’s the fucking virus.”

“What?” Daithi asked, while the others turned to Lui, hoping he could clear up what he said.

Lui looked through the scope. “Yep. That must be the embodiment of the virus.”

“What does that even mean?” Miniladd asked, while the others were taking out their own guns.

“It means,” Lui said, “if we kill it, we can possibly get out of this game.”

“Possibly?” Wildcat asked, harsh and annoyed.

It bothered Delirious that this might not be the end, that things could get worse for them, but it was good they couldn’t feel anything.

“I can’t give a definite answer, but if this is the embodiment of it, then when we destroy it, we can leave. Simple,” Lui said, and before he pulled the trigger, he disappeared like a glitch, and then a loud sound of a gun going off startled them, but before any of them could question what happened. Vanoss stumbled backwards and landed on the asphalt with a bullet in his stomach.

The others backed away from him, their words rushed together, but Delirious narrowed his gaze to the _virus_ , and Lui standing beside it, his mouth slackened at the sight of what he unintentionally did.

The virus laughed like a child before disappearing, it sound echoed throughout the street.

“WelcomeHome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to be honest with anyone who might point it out, unless you were as ignorant as me, but I forgot about Ohmwrecker. LMFAO. I didn't mean too, while I was thinking of this story, I realized he was in it. Hahahahaahah! Damn it, my bad. He'll be in it more, hopefully.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.


	16. the space between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They decide to hunt down the virus, but the virus had its own plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of funny, I said I finally figured out how to end this story, but I don't write the next chapter until a week later. ffs. Sorry about that. I got distracted by Detroit: Become Human. (I have fanfics if you want to read any.) 
> 
> Anyway, if you must know, I actually am inspired by Skull Kid on Legend of Zelda. (Any version, but mostly OOT) Because Skull Kid is considered a trickster, so the virus is inspired by him. :)
> 
> It's short, I kind of wished this chapter was longer, but it ended the way it did, and hopefully the next chapter is longer. :D
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Vanoss was sitting on the ground with his legs out and his hand holding him up. He drank a pop from his inventory. He knew it wouldn’t have worked when they felt pain, but now that they didn’t, it was convenient. The blood on his shirt faded, including the wound, there was, however, a hole in his shirt.

Delirious stood beside him, talking to Ohmwrecker on the phone. The others were standing around, asking each other questions none of them had the answer for.

The sky was turning grey, darkening in the horizon. Wind blew against his face, running through his hair. He couldn’t feel anything, but he could smell, taste, and hear still. It wasn’t as muted, maybe a little fuzzy when he held things or touched the asphalt itself.

Lui jogged back over to them, his brows furrowed as he stared at Vanoss.

“Stop shooting me in the stomach,” Vanoss managed to grit out, dropping the empty bottle on the ground.

Lui’s sniper was gone from his hand. “This time it wasn’t my fault.”

Vanoss didn’t blame him, he knew whatever the thing that was laughing at them was at fault. It was eerie. Like a child playing a game. It did something, pulling Lui beside it without any of them noticing until he pulled the trigger.

Delirious helped Vanoss to his feet, tucking his phone into his pocket at the same time.

“How’s Ohm?” Vanoss asked.

“He’s fine,” Delirious said, a weary look on his face. “He said it wasn’t an automatic death, he started to bleed from his nose, and it came up from his throat.” Delirious shuddered, “Let’s just say, it wasn’t pleasant.”

Vanoss frowned. “At least the rest of us didn’t have to go through that.” It disgusted him that it was meant to happen if they failed to kill their assigned targets, and that Ohm had to deal with it alone.

He scanned the streets and watched as more NPC’s began to appear, along with the vehicles that were momentarily gone when the virus showed itself in a tangible form. They all knew it had influence over the game itself, and the rest of them. He didn’t know what it’s motive was, but from the looks of it, it wasn’t going to let them go.

The others weren’t so bothered by their new circumstance now that pain was out of the equation, but there was determination set on each of their faces.

Vanoss glanced at Delirious who was staring down the street. He was calmer than usual, but also tense. When they were going to kill each other, maybe there was a part of Vanoss that was frayed, maybe he wasn’t really sure about killing his best friend. He wanted to close his eyes and pretend it was someone else.

Except he couldn’t, he stared in Delirious’s eyes, his heart pounding in his chest, mind screaming for him to not pull the trigger, but time was against them, and it was quick.

“What do you think will happen?” Vanoss asked.

Delirious extended his arm out, his fingers wrapping around an automatic pistol. “We kill the virus, isn’t that obvious?”

Vanoss rolled his eyes. Of course it was obvious, why wouldn’t it be? The objective was clear as day when it appeared and had Lui shoot him in the stomach. He gritted his teeth at the thought of how it would feel if he felt pain, the sinking bullet, metal slicing into skin and whatever organs it would have punctured, blood flowing from the wound.

He knew he wouldn’t have been able to handle it. It took some time to deal with pain, to ignore it, but they crossed death so many times, and it never got easier.

Good thing they can’t die anymore.

“I guess we’re splitting apart again,” Wildcat said, shaking his head. He looked more perturbed than the rest of them, but the impatience wasn’t lost on them either.

“We all don’t go alone,” Lui said.

“That’d be stupid,” Nogla interjected, inspecting his assault rifle.

“So we’re looking for a kid?” Miniladd asked, frowning.

Lui shook his head. “Not a kid, it’s a virus. And it’s preventing us from leaving, so that should give us motivation to kill it.”

“I’m motivated,” Cartoonz said, standing to the side with his arms crossed.

“Same,” Delirious said.

Vanoss nodded, squeezing his fingers around his gun. “Okay. Let’s go hunt it down.”

Before any of them could move away from each other to do just that. There was a wind surrounding them, strong and fierce, shoving them all back.

Vanoss gasped, and for some reason, his breath was gone from how harsh the wind was, slicing into his skin, the pain was direct but he couldn’t scream. Not when his feet left the ground and he was dragged away from his friends and into the air.

He flailed, gun falling from his fingers as he kept going up and up. Butterflies assaulted his stomach, and his teeth clenched down, breathing hard through his nose.

Then the wind began to fade and his ascent slowed.

_Why can I feel pain? Why can I feel pain? What’s going on? What’s happening? Why can I fucking feel pain?_

Vanoss began to fall.

His eyes widened at how high he was in the sky. When he began his descent, his heart raced so hard, and he knew what was going to happen when he’d hit the ground.

“Please!” he begged, flailing his arms, “I don’t want to die, don’t let me die! Please! Please! Please!”

Then he stopped and gasped as if someone had caught him, he was shaking badly, heart racing inside his chest, and he looked around. He spotted it from afar, floating in the air, then it drew closer, it’s voice growing louder.

“Please,” it said, “I don’t want to die, don’t let me die. Please. Please. Please.”

Vanoss stared at it, he tried curling his fingers to stop himself from shaking, and he didn’t want to look down to see how far he was in the air. He wasn’t even close to any of the tallest buildings in Los Santos.

It stopped, tilting its head to the side. “Please. I don’t want to die, don’t let me die. Please. Please. Please.”

Vanoss cleared his throat, “Don’t let me die.”

It floated until they were close to touch, its voice sounding similar to Vanoss’s, “Don’t let me die.” A knife appeared in its hand, silver and sharp, and it placed the tip of the knife to Vanoss’s clenched fist.

“Don’t let me die,” it said, cutting the top of Vanoss’s hand in a straight line.

Vanoss flinched, sucking in another harsh breath at the pain, blood began to dribble from the cut and floated into the air.

The virus laughed, watching it as it continued to float above them, chanting, “Don’t let me die. Don’t let me die. Don’t let me die. Don’t let me die.”

Vanoss stared at the cut until it began to heal. He didn’t expect the virus to cut him, to laugh at the blood, it acted like a child with its mask and happy neon face. “Why can I feel pain?”

The virus turned its attention back on Vanoss, mimicking his voice again. “Why can I feel pain?”

Vanoss glared at it. “Tell me! Why can I feel pain?”

The virus moved away from Vanoss, waving the knife that had some of Vanoss’s blood on the tip, “Because I allowed it.”


	17. surge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and his friends locate Vanoss via radar, but a pack of NPC's are in their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, there was a time when I wanted to write a zombie fic. lmfao.
> 
> I'm not regressing by the way. I know that happens in shows where they regress the character development, but this isn't it. The virus targeted Vanoss, and since the virus can influence the game and whatever was happening to them mentally, it made Vanoss feel pain again. Everyone else are pain free. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Delirious scrambled to his feet, his head tilted up, trying his hardest to see what happened to Vanoss. He simply flew into the sky, and something black that seemed more like a speck was getting bigger only to land on the ground, it went off once, startling him and the others that also got to their feet. 

“What the fuck?” Wildcat muttered, “what the hell just happened?”

“The virus took him,” Lui said, he was knelt down on one knee, holding his sniper rifle pointed up. Nogla was beside him looking up at the sky as well.

“Why?” Delirious asked.

He heard Vanoss when the wind shoved them all apart. The scream leaving his lips before he was flung into the air. He didn’t know what it meant, maybe Vanoss was scared by the sudden onslaught, or maybe it was something else. He suspected one thing, but he didn’t want to accept it.

“I don’t see him,” Lui said, standing up, “he’s either too high up, or the virus took him somewhere else.”

“Why the fuck would the virus take him someplace else? Why bother taking Vanoss at all?” Delirious asked, shooting a glare at Lui.

Lui shrugged.

“We have a problem, guys,” Miniladd said, pointing his gun.

Delirious suspected something would eventually happen, and this was one of them. The NPC’s were drawing closer to them in a large cluster, all of them holding different types of weapons, some were empty handed, either way they had a dry look on their faces. 

“Great,” Basically said, stepping back, “now what?”

“We run,” Cartoonz said, “we find a car, get away from here.”

“And do what?” Delirious asked, glancing over his shoulder at him, “what about Vanoss?”

“We can’t deal with that right now,” Nogla said, firing his gun and hitting a few of the NPC’s, but even as they fell, they still stood up and moved towards them.

There was a joke somewhere about zombies that Delirious couldn’t think of when he kept glancing up at the sky. Vanoss’s gun had fallen, and yet he didn’t. Meaning the virus  _ did  _ have him, but why?

He stepped back as the NPC’s drew closer, he tightened his hold on the gun, flinching at the sound of his friend’s firing their own weapons. They all knew Cartoonz was right, they’d have to get out of there and find a car, something to give them an advantage before they’re killed.

Not like it’ll hurt.

One of the NPC’s fired their own gun, and killed Miniladd, shooting Wildcat in the leg, while another fired at Lui and Nogla.

“Shit,” Delirious said, killing off a few of the NPC’s holding guns. “Run you fucking idiots,” he yelled back at his friends, gaining a searing glare from Wildcat who limped away from Miniladd’s fading body.

Delirious sprints after his friends who managed to hijack a few cars that were coming down the tunnel. He reaches for the opened door and slides in beside Lui, while Cartoonz is driving and Nogla took the passenger seat. The others, Basically and Fourzeroseven found their own vehicle and were moving back, while Wildcat met up with Miniladd and they got into a car where a screaming woman falls to the asphalt. 

Wildcat shot her before she could get up. Defiance clinging to the air around them, and since they no longer could feel pain, or even death, that it didn’t affect them. 

Delirious could feel the hollowness of the game. The simplicity of its construct, and how much it wasn’t real. For hours it seemed like his own reality, a prison where he couldn’t escape, dying constantly where the pain would throb all over.

Now, his hands didn’t feel like his hands, his body less of extension of his mind. 

He presses a button on the door and the window slides down. Sticking his hand out and shooting the NPC’s as Cartoonz drives through them. 

A rush of adrenaline kicks in, and Delirious laughs, filling his chest at the thrill that death could not touch them. 

“Where are we going?” Lui asked, grabbing the back of Cartoonz’s chair. 

“How the fuck should I know?” Cartoonz asked, swerving to the right where he went down the street. More NPC’s were hit on the front of the car, some went flying as blood sprayed the air, unfortunately because of the massive onslaught, the car began to slow down and the NPC’s clung to the sides. 

Delirious made sure the door was locked as he shot a man in the face. The sound wasn’t as harsh as it was before, the feeling of the gun wasn’t a burden. 

This was a game, not the reality they were forced to confront when death touched them.

He noticed something to his left, and his entire body went still. 

Vanoss was killed.

“Cartoonz,” Delirious gripped the seat and pulled himself forward while Lui fired at the NPC’s, “we have to find Vanoss.”

“We’re kind of busy, right now!” He swerved the car and it almost spun around, barely making a 180, then he was driving down the street.

Delirious had fallen backwards, his grip on his gun loosened from the movement, and he scrambled to reach it but the window smashed and he felt a pair of hands yanking him partially out the window.

“For fuck sakes, Lui,” Delirious called.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Lui yelled, gripping Delirious’s arm and pulling him back in.

_ I really need a drink after this. _

Delirious turned slightly on his side, digging his fingers into a woman’s hand and shoved her off of him. “Fuck off.” He felt the gun in his hand before he could ask, and he shot three of them clinging to the car. He fell backwards when Cartoonz turned down another street.

“Fuck sakes,” Nogla muttered, shooting a man on the front of the car, trying to slam his fists onto the front windshield.

“Where are we going?” Lui asked, brushing off some of the glass that was still on the seat. 

“We’re going to find Vanoss,” Delirious said, his heart racing in his chest, and even though he could barely feel his own body, the adrenaline and fear still wrecked him and his thoughts.

“We don’t even know where he is,” Cartoonz said.

He didn’t care, they needed to find him. He needed to know what was happening, why the virus was killing him, or even if Vanoss was killing himself. 

Why him? Why did you pick him? Why did you take him from me?

“We have to find him,” Delirious said, staring down at his gun. 

“Maybe we can find his GPS,” Lui said, taking out his cellphone.

“GPS?” Nogla asked, looking back at them. 

“Yeah. We all have phones on us, and there’s an app in this game that can help us locate each other.”

“How long will it take?” Delirious asked.

“Hold on,” Lui said idly, moving through his phone. 

Cartoonz avoided the cluster of NPC’s that showed up on the street, and when they were shot at, Delirious and Nogla would fire back. A bullet had sunk into Delirious’s shoulder, but even with the blood staining his clothes, he felt nothing.

“Here,” Lui said, showing them a radar on his phone screen, blinking in a certain direction. “We can track his phone now and find out what is going on.”

_ We have to find him. _

Lui told Cartoonz where to go, and Nogla got in contact with Wildcat and Basically, finding out where they are and updating them that they were going after Vanoss. 

Delirious shot at a few NPC’s that had guns, he lowered himself down on the seat to keep himself from getting shot in the head. 

He knew how it felt. The pain drowning him as if he was under water, dragging him down, then he’d wake up and he would choke on nothing. A pain that wasn’t there, only the memory of it, a residual. 

“How far are we?” he asked, looking at the radar in Lui’s hand.

“We’re getting close,” he said, pointing down a street, then the car swerved before coming to a stop. 

Delirious grit his teeth, tightening his hold on the gun. “Now what?”

They were staring at a large group of NPC’s, and they seemed to be blocking where they were going, and from what Delirious could see, they were at the airport.

“Get out,” Cartoonz said, looking back at Delirious.

“What?” Delirious asked, confused.

“Get out of the car, we’ll distract them, and you can go after Vanoss.”

“Would that work?” Delirious asked. The group of NPC’s covered most of the expanse in front of the airport, the road was covered by them, and they were staring, vacant, with weapons in their hands. 

“Wildcat and Basically’s group are coming this way, they’ll help us clear out the NPC’s, but you have to go after Vanoss.”

His name appeared again, and the apprehension made Delirious reach for the door handle. “You’ll be fine?” he asked them, unsure of leaving them behind, but eager to go after Vanoss.

“Yeah,” Nogla said, reassuring him, “we’ll be fine.”

Lui had an assault rifle in his hand. “We don’t feel pain, that’s our advantage.”

Delirious nodded, he stepped from the car and slammed the door. Cartoonz drove the car towards the large group of NPC’s, running over most of them. Lui and Nogla were firing their guns, taking out a handful of them.

Delirious was sprinting past them, shooting any that were in his way.

He had to get Vanoss, he had to stop this from happening.


	18. frayed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some stories truly never end, do they? Not the way you expect them to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite self conscious about ending stories because they're quite long, and I take my time with them, and usually my procrastination is the problem.  
> I like my ending the way it is, and I don't mind how I wrote it. :) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Vanoss fell to the ground, choking, tears rising to the rim of his eyes, and then he threw up on the road. It was hot, the taste raw and disgusting. Heaving out gasps, he rose his head and glared at the virus walking towards him. It held a gun idly in its hand, and when it stopped in front of him, it laughed and then it shot Vanoss in the head.

Pins and needles dug into his skin and the blinking word on the grey screen stared at him in a bright white light as if mocking him. 

_ WELCOMEHOME _

He was brought back, legs trembling, he reached for his inventory and took out a gun. 

Earlier when he was trapped floating in the sky, he was glad the virus didn’t drop him to his death. He didn’t think he could handle the impact it would have given him. The virus simply moved him away to the airport where all the NPC’s in the area began to walk away, leaving the street bare for only the two of them. It didn’t hesitate to kill him, and when he emerged, the sickening feeling of dying, the taste of metal on his tongue from the blood in his throat, and the ache of the bullet that had been in his head.

Over and over again, the virus laughed at him as if it were all a game.

Vanoss fired his gun, but the virus moved quickly to the side, laughing and shooting his own, the bullet skimmed past Vanoss’s head.

He sucked in a breath, placing a hand on his ear that rung. “Fuck you!”

“Are you okay?” It asked, a voice mimicking Vanoss’s, sly and distorted, it moved with Vanoss’s mannerisms, and yet there was still the strangeness of it. A childlike demeanor, malicious with intent, it did not hesitate. 

Vanoss moved back. Fear snarled inside of him, ripping away at his mind, and his hands shook, not sure if he could pick up the gun. The virus was not human, it did not have morals, it was moving on basic commands its hacker had created for it. A purpose built into its code to torture anyone who entered the game.

“What do you want with me?”

“What do I want?” It asked, tilting its head to the side, “What do I want? What do I want? What do I want?”

Gritting his teeth, Vanoss breathed heavily before asking, “Why single me out?”

The virus twitched, glitching out in front of him, but then it knelt down, still holding the gun. “My system did not move until the moment you died.”

Lui shot him in the stomach on the same street they were on. The pain was the first thing that made him realize something was wrong. He tried to say something, blood in his throat, warm and raw, then he was shot in the head. 

His first death. 

Succumbing to its coldness before being spat out. 

He recalled the pressure that he didn’t understand, wondering how it could be, but they were affected by it once they stepped into the game, second by second, the virus seeped into them. “Why do you...influence death on us?”

“Influence?” It asked, tapping the gun on its knee, “you mean your mind, the emotions to trauma, the fear, the anxiety? The mental fluctuations are easy to manipulate. All I did was convince your mind that you were in extreme pain and it believed me.” It started to laugh and the voice changed, smoothed out, and Vanoss realized this was the actual voice of the hacker, they only managed to distort their voice to embody the virus, to make it its own sentient being. “You didn’t need to believe me. A lie is easy to dismiss, but you fell into the same undeniable trap I had set.”

It shot Vanoss in the knee, pulling a scream from his throat, he tried reaching for the wound as pain lanced throughout his body. Except the virus shoved Vanoss on his back, crawled on top of him, and placed the gun to his head.

“I’ve been watching you,” it whispered, grinning at Vanoss who squirmed from the pain, but he could do nothing. “Not sure why, maybe you’re my center—”

“Vanoss!” 

_ Delirious.  _

Again, he was pulled back by the shock, fire and cold wrapping itself around him as his entire being stiffened up, and a silent scream left his lips. 

He fell to his knees when he spawned several feet away, his hands already on the sides of his head, fingers digging into his scalp. He started to scream, and the sound echoed on the empty street, followed by a ragged sob and then a whimper.

The pain reverberated through his body, and yet there was no wound on him, no bullet hole sinking into his head or his knee. It was a game, a lie that the virus had created. That’s all it was, but why was it hard to convince himself it wasn’t real?

“ _ He’s  _ here,” the virus said, a tone of disinterest. “Coming to your rescue...how do you feel about that? Relieved or scared?”

Both. Now it won’t just be him, Delirious, without even thinking, ran right into its trap. 

He slowed down, a gun in his hand, his eyes stayed on Vanoss but he was also wary of the virus that stood beside him.

“Do you think he’ll feel just like you do if I shot him?” the virus asked, its voice distorting, changing to Delirious’s voice, but also a mix of his own, as if it didn’t know how it should sound.

“Leave him alone,” Vanoss said, trying to stand, to rid himself of the pain. He had to believe that it wasn’t real, that what he felt didn’t matter. 

“He likes to scream your name,” the virus mocked, its voice perfecting Delirious’s and Vanoss’s, a strange pitch within the glitch, holding the gun and firing, it stopped Delirious from moving, his gaze falling on Vanoss who was still on the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Does he know that pain is nothing but an illusion?” the virus asked, ignoring Delirious and looking down at Vanoss. “Does he know you’re in an illusion, steeped in its warmth that collided with reality. Does he know you’re nothing, but an insect in the grasp of a spider’s web?” Its voice sounded disgusted, angry as it said, “Does he know how much you want him to save you?”

Vanoss kept his eyes on Delirious, mouth firmly closed. Was there a way out of here without the virus driving him insane? Soon enough it’ll send Delirious into that same overwhelming state, and they won’t be able to figure out what to do until it’s too late. Maybe the rest of their friends could figure it out.

He noticed something, names appearing to the side of his vision. Clenching his teeth, his friends were dying, and Delirious glanced back once, but careful in case something were to happen in the split second of his attention being diverted.

“I can make it hurt,” it said, raising the gun and shooting Delirious in the leg. A shock rippled across his face and he fell to his knees, and slumped to his side, hand still gripping the handle of his pistol, blood pooled from his leg and onto the asphalt. 

Vanoss closed his eyes to Delirious’s scream. His heart raced against his chest, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He would not forget this, not for awhile.

The virus strolled toward Delirious, leaving Vanoss rigid on the sidewalk, unable to move from the shock and the rage.

Time slowed, blood racing through Vanoss’s veins, and all his hope was dwindling through his fingers. 

He had to do something, and he had to do it quick. A surge of adrenaline coursed through him. He couldn’t let Delirious be subjected to the virus’s dangerous whims. He pulled a pistol from the weapon wheel and pointed it at the virus with a shaky grip.

“You might not want to do that,” the virus whispered in his ear.

Vanoss twitched and looked to his side, but the virus still stood in front of Delirious. His back to him. It was like it never left, or that it was pointing a gun at Delirious who managed to push himself up, a defiance on his face that never really changed about him.

Nausea brought him back, and he closed his hand around the handle of the gun. It did not calm him, not when he seen it too many times, felt it in his bones, the pain tightening as death shoved him to the concrete. A cycle of endless chaos with each name appearing. He couldn’t get the sound of bodies landing hard on the ground out of his head, nor the sight of Delirious falling from the sky, and disappearing under the harsh waves. Seconds before his death pulled him to the beach, shaken up, he shot himself to ease the suffocation and panic.

_ I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. Please...please, don’t let me die.  _ He begged Lui and Nogla to help him, but they couldn’t. It was too late. He didn’t notice the glass had punctured deep, and the hot sun was not because of his fatigue.

One after the other they perished, and when they emerged, none of them were the same. They were frayed at the edges, trying to regain sanity from this pain. 

He did not want that to happen, not when Delirious had placed the gun to his head, and they shot each other so they didn’t have to deal with it alone. 

Delirious stared at Vanoss, a steady look in his eyes, before a smug look made its way onto his face, the corner of his lips pulled, at the same time he placed the gun to his the side of his head and shot himself.

Vanoss flinched from the sound, and the laughter of the virus. Except he didn’t stay down to deal with the shock that once again he had to watch Delirious kill himself. Instead he got to his feet and ran toward the virus. It turned, pointing the gun at Vanoss, except he was faster and when he shot the virus, it didn’t react to the bullet in its body, nor the blood spraying in the air. 

He took a shuddering breath when the virus shot him, this time in the stomach, and he stumbled and fell, his knees hit the cement as he toppled forward. He lost his grip on his gun and it slid several feet away, his hands throbbed from landing on the ground. He touched his stomach, blood was already soaking around the rip.

He could hardly breathe with the taste of copper clotting his throat, he heaved raggedly and a thick portion stared up at him, a trail leading from his bottom lip.

“There’s something symmetrical about you two,” the virus spoke, Vanoss and Delirious’s voice came in and out, mixing together, uncertain. “Did you notice? Minds wringing dry, and yet your eyes always meet, finding each other in a mass of bodies, like magnets, completely attuned.”

Sucking in a breath, Vanoss moved his body toward the gun. The sun dipped into an orange glow, but the heat still burned his hands on the asphalt. 

“Is that all you’re interested in?” Vanoss asked, breath trembling. “My friendship with Delirious?”

“Not just friendship,” the virus murmured, “there’s more of an ache between you two. Have you noticed? I have. The undeniable cause of dying has given you incentive to reveal what has been hidden, but you deny it. I’m curious about that.”

Vanoss had no idea what the virus was talking about, and when he kills it, he wouldn’t have to care afterward. He was dying for a shower, and maybe after, he’ll order pizza, watch a movie, sleep, pretend this didn’t happen.

“I watched you,” the virus whispered in Vanoss’s ear, making him shudder, a close feeling in his space, a violation of cold hands touching along his naked spine. “Worry caused nausea, paranoia, and longing. And then you were forced to confront it with a bullet, and what did you do?”

“I killed him,” Vanoss muttered, he was so close to the gun. 

“He killed you.” He recalled the sound of the gun going off that almost stalled his movements, and with one reach, he could hold the gun in his hand. “A peaceful resolution between you two, wasn’t it? Your knight in shining armour with a reckless streak, tipping him over the edge of death caused his weary state. I wonder what will happen if I have you all for a little while longer. Are you easily broken like glass?”

Vanoss gritted his teeth. “No. I’m more like marble, a diamond—”

His ear twitched at a sharp sound, and then a grunt, the body fell. 

Vanoss grabbed the gun and pushed himself to his feet. His gauge wasn’t all the way down, but the pain wouldn’t be gone for sometime, unless he kills himself to free that consequence.

He stared down at the virus, it twitched, sounds escaping it as its body glitched before fading out.

Vanoss checked the gun, he placed it into his weapon wheel, and pulled out a sniper. The weight made him groan, but he held it up and turned it toward Delirious who was all the way down the street from him. 

The virus seemed a little obvious, it was angry, questioning things, and taking interest in something it didn’t understand. When it talked, it was like it was saying it’s goodbye, as if it also had a time limit. He looked at the time, it wasn’t exact, another manipulated feature that made it seem like they were in the game at a longer span of time, even as days went by, the sun and the moon coming into view, but he figured they were in the game for five hours and twenty minutes.

He wasn’t sure, but it was a good enough guess.

The virus appeared on one side of Delirious, a gun in his hand, pointed at Delirious’s chest.

Vanoss shot it in the head, it glitched, and then it disappeared. The pain in his stomach was a distant memory, numb, and barely a hinderance. He grabbed for a pistol and turned to the virus that appeared ten feet beside him.

“No longer, longer pl-playing with me?” it asked, its voice more distorted than before. 

“I’m not playing,” Vanoss said,“I want out of here, all of my friends want out of this game.”

“Games are fun,” it said, tilting its head. 

Vanoss shot it, it stumbled back, groaning and glitching but it stayed where it was. “Games are fun, but not like this.”

“I’m almost finished,” the virus spoke, gazing at Vanoss, its hand on its wound, “I’m almost finished...they don’t know what I’m doing...but this was a good enough distraction.”

Vanoss furrowed his brows, confused. “You’re not sentient?”

“I’m a piece of the puzzle,” the virus said, laughing, “I’m a piece of the puzzle, a piece, a piece, of the puzzle.”

A distraction? This virus is a distraction? What is the hacker doing, or maybe there were more than one. 

Vanoss shot it again, it fell on one knee, still laughing, “Let us out of here. You had your fun, and now we want out!”

“I had my fun, fun, fun? I had my fun with you, Vanoss, and you didn’t disappoint. I liked watching you squirm, and see things you don’t want to see. I’m glad I picked you, I’m quite a fan of yours, I’m quite a fan, quite a fan, a fan.” The virus glitched, and pieces of its body tore apart and disappeared into the sky.

Delirious made his way over to him, “What the hell was that?” he asked.

Vanoss shook his head, dropping his hand to his side, “I don’t know. It said it was a fan of mine.”

What did it want? Why did it harass them? Who was behind it? It confused him, and yet he wanted to forget this ever happened, all the desperation, the fear clinging to him, and the weight of guns in his hand. He needed to get out of this game and actually breathe fresh air, to touch something that is real, and sleep.

He dropped his gun and it hit the ground. 

“Hey!” They both looked to see the others down the road from them. Wildcat and Miniladd were on the left side, their clothes were torn and soaked with blood. Basically and Fourzeroseven walked to the side of them, they held similar wounds. Nogla and Lui were in the center, both smiling. Moo and Terrorizer lingered far behind the others, while Cartoonz and Ohmwrecker were waving their hands to Vanoss and Delirious. “We can leave!” Cartoonz proclaimed, and it was the best thing Vanoss has ever heard.

“Finally,” Delirious muttered.

Vanoss smiled, the weight lifted and they walked toward their group of friends. And they all left at once.


	19. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing ever fades, but time will tell eventually. Some illusions are in front of your face, and some are in your head. Trust comes a long way, depends on where it leads too, and where it ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you must know, I got this idea from one of Vanoss's videos.  
> Vanossgaming - GTA 5 Online Funny Moments - The Weenie Boys & Minigun Unlocked! | 4:30.  
> Unfortunately, this intense scene wasn't added into the story. I was mostly winging it tbh.  
> Obviously, I couldn't write romance again. And from how it seems like, I probably won't be able too, maybe I need practice or something. I'll get right on that. :)  
> Another thing, I am okay with the ending, and some people, might not be. I easily could have made the virus fall in love with Vanoss, and be jealous of Delirious, since it's my story and I can do whatever I want with it. However, I didn't want that love plot in there, also the virus does seem a little jealous, and maybe it's because the hacker themselves is only a fan of Vanoss, and everyone else they don't care about. :D At least, that's how I wanted to ish right it.
> 
> I hoped you enjoy. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Evan waited at the front door of his house with the pizza money in his hand. His stomach was empty, and it groaned with impatience. He tried to ignore it, but soon its influence was making him glare out at the empty street.

He barely slept for the past two weeks, the loud sounds interrupting him and waking him up during the night. His hands trembling with an urge to hold the handle of a gun, to feel its warmth in his grasp. He expected pain to appear during the days, and when he accidently hit his side on the table or the counter when he walked by, he would stop and suck in a breath.

It was not the same. 

He talked to his friends, but most of them were deterring from the conversation. He could tell in their voices that something was wrong, that they were dealing with the aftermath as much as he was. 

They played games, but not the ones that dealt with virtual reality. When he had taken off the helmet, he was hyperventilating, and his family was there to calm him down. They heard he was attacked by the hacker, and they were afraid he wouldn’t come out of it. They took him to the hospital, and he was there for over a day, they were examining his brain and kept him over the night to see if there were any other anomalies, side effects to what he went through. 

He didn’t sleep during that night, and he would pick things up or move things around his room, just to feel relief that it was real. 

Evan didn’t know he would panic so quickly, but he did. It took time for him to realize that everything was okay. He wasn’t going to die like he did in GTA 5, no one was a threat to him.

He had to see a counselor to review what he went through, to talk it out. They gave him anxiety pills, and he took one when he knew one was creeping up on him.

He researched for anything that could tell him about the specificity of the virus. What he learned was that it attacked many video games, not only virtual reality, at least not the one he was in, but some that allowed the player to have the option of taking off their helmet without neurological damage. Some indie games were given too many bugs, and files were corrupted, computers had to be replaced because of the magnitude of the virus spreading. The sessions of Online games were cut short for an extended time before it could be fixed.

There were many names to the virus, or at least the hacker who had created the virus. 

One of the names showed up, and Evan stared at it.

_ WELCOMEHOME _

It was a branch off the other viruses, it’s only use was to infect the immersion, and manipulate the system to its own collective program. It was a lot smaller than the others, not completely made to destroy the game, but it was malicious nonetheless. 

None of the hackers were caught, or even found. Sooner or later, they will be and Evan will at least have a face and a name of whoever had done it. Created a game he enjoyed into torture and pain that was hard to rid from his mind.

Evan opened the door and paid for his pizza.

The delivery guy smiled under his cap, “Have a fun night.”

Evan nodded, taking the pizza to his kitchen where he took a piece and placed it on a plate. He entered his room where his gaming setup was, and noticed Delirious was online, unlike the others, they sometimes didn’t go on that much.

“Hey,” he said.

“Vanoss,” Delirious’s high pitched voice made Evan flinch, “I didn’t think you’d be on so late.”

Evan frowned, glancing at the time in the corner of his computer. “It’s only eleven.”

“Yeah...well, the others didn’t want to do anything tonight. Most of them had plans.”

_ I bet they did.  _ “I ordered pizza,” Evan said.

“Really? You’re always doing that, buying pizza and shit.”

Evan scrunched his nose, “I ain’t buying shit.” He took a bite of his pizza.

“You know what I mean,” Delirious said, and Evan heard it, a soft sigh and something else, maybe he was tired.

“Have you slept?” 

“Yeah, I just woke up actually.”

Evan hummed, taking another bite.

“Do-Do you have dreams about it?”

Evan blinked, and he stared at his mic for a moment, unsure of the words he wanted to say. A sharp pain in his chest made it hard to breathe. He remembered what his counselor had said, and took evened breathes to steady himself.

“I’m sorry,” Delirious whispered, “I didn’t mean to bother you with that question.”

Evan placed his pizza down on the plate. “Loud noises bother me,” he confessed, his mouth dry, and he reached for a water bottle he had grabbed earlier before the pizza came, he uncapped it and took a sip.

“Same. It’s-it’s uncomfortable, going outside and knowing that they’re still out there, that they might even know where we are. I can’t get it out of my head.”

Delirious rarely expressed himself, none of them did, even if they were mad at each other. It was private with whoever was having a problem, while the others can pretend everything wasn’t happening. That’s what Evan was trying to do, ignore it, pretend he was okay. That’s all he can do.

“There are worse things out there,” Evan said, wringing his fingers to ease the trembling, “and living with this is part of all those terrible things. We’re here for each other, even if we want to pretend, and lie, and deny it ever happened.”

Delirious was silent, and Evan ate his pizza, he wanted to get more and before he stood, Delirious spoke.

“I dream about you.”

Evan went still, waiting.

“I dream about that time with the list, before the virus showed itself. I dream of the cold barrel against my head, and my hand holding the gun to yours. I dream of your face staring back at mine, and there’s a sliver of fear that mirror my own. There’s also trust, and I believed that more than the fear, I held onto it every time I wake up thinking I’m still in the game. Shaking and wondering if you’re okay.”

“Don’t deal with this alone,” Evan told him, “it’s not good for anyone. I’m here, Delirious, I’m not dead, or inside the game. I’m here.”

“Y-Yeah, I think that’s all I need. Confirmation.”

“I’m going to get another pizza.” Evan didn’t wait for his reply, and when he was placing  a pizza on his plate. He braced the counter, and squeezed his eyes shut.

He had dreams about Delirious, and nausea followed, he would have anxiety by the thought of him, and he’d throw up. Not because he was disgusted by him, but because of the constant death he was prone too. He didn’t want to kill him when he was forced too, and waking up, panicking, was worse when he was alone. 

The worst thing about this was that he heard the virus’s voice inside his head. Mocking him with the distorted voice of his own, and of Delirious’s. Paranoia was too close these past two weeks, and he understood what Delirious was going through. 

Anyone could know who they are, and they can mess with them. The virus said it was a fan, the hacker themselves. 

He didn’t despise his fans, but he was distant. Maybe that’s why this happened, a hacker decided to do something, and even how menacing it was, they made an impact in Evan’s life.

Evan walked back to the room and sat down in his chair. “You still there?”

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Delirious said, clicking was heard on the other side.

“I had to go to the bathroom,” he lied.

Delirious hummed, distracted. “You want to play a game?”

_ It’s not the same, it’s not the same, it’s not the same. _

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept saying since April, I think, that I'm writing three more h2ovanoss stories, but apparently I can't write romance so it's probably just Vanoss and Delirious stories with their pov's. There are two new stories I'm writing for the hell of it, Rogue, and Violent Nights Under A Turquoise Sky. They are already published if you want to read the latest chapters.  
> Both stories are featured with Vanoss's main pov, and the other, he's sharing it with Delirious's pov.
> 
> The three stories will be uploaded soon. I've got them ready since the end of May. LOL. I was waiting for this story to finish. 
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed Frayed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


End file.
